Wasurenagusa
by Ari Yukimoto
Summary: Four couples and their stories of true love. "I'm glad I met you that day." -Kuroko x OC (Chapter 1-4) "I just want to see you happy." -Nijimura x OC (Chapter 5-9) "Because you deserve better." -Kise x OC (Chapter 10-ongoing) "It wasn't easy for me to let you go." -Akashi x OC
1. Devotion Chapter One

**A quick note from the author: While it's fine to read a specific story on it's own, I highly recommend reading all the stories in order for the full experience.**

* * *

 _Having feelings for someone just brings sorrow to someone else. Someone always gets sacrificed and suffers. Just how long must someone suffer before they find happiness?_

"Thank you for waiting! Here's your order of large fries and a medium chocolate shake."

The young woman nodded her head to the cashier as she took her tray, carrying it firmly with both hands as she casually walked over to her usual table.

Once she placed her tray on the table's surface and seated herself into the chair, she let out a small sigh while straightening out the wrinkles in her skirt before slipping her bag off of her shoulder and placing it in her lap. After zipping her bag open, she pulled out slightly thick binder filled about halfway with papers and dug through her bag a bit more before pulling out the red pen she was looking for. With a flick of the wrist, she opened the binder and stared at the first page for a few moments, scanning its contents while she brought the straw of her shake up to her mouth to take a big sip. Once her dark, ruby red eyes finished scanning the page, she placed her shake back down on the table, clicked her pen once, and got to work.

Quickly, her pen seemed to dance across the surface of the paper, drawing multiple circles and cross in the designated places with efficiency while writing down small but helpful comments on the bottom of each page. This routine continued for the rest of the papers in the binder and before she realized it, she had gotten through the thick stack.

"Hmm… They did well, but I know they can do better… It'd probably be good to have a review before exam week, so I should make a study guide for them and send it to them by email over the weekend." Clicking her tongue, she brought the blunt end of her pen to her mouth as her eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "Oh, maybe I should include an answer key too so they can check their work- Or should I send it later so I can make sure they actually do it instead of using it to cheat…?"

Contemplating the thought as she packed up the binder and her pen back into her bag, she brought her drink back up to her mouth and took a sip as her eyes wandered around aimlessly before settling on the sights outside of the glass walls of the restaurant. She stared blankly in the distance before something, or someone, within the crowds of people outside caught her interest.

"Isn't that… Kurosawa-senpai?" She questioned with narrowed eyes as she tried to get a clear look of his face. "It is…!"

Takumi Kurosawa, her senpai from high school and university, and the guy she confessed to recently. The confession was a few weeks ago, around the time when Inter-High was happening. She had seen him there and decided it would be a good time to tell him about her feelings. After her confession, he said he would think about it before giving her his final answer…

But at that moment, she realized she would never get an answer from him. Despite not hearing it from him, she understood loud and clearly. Tears were pooling in the corner of her wide eyes as she watched him wrap his arm around one of her friends from her math lecture class.

"So Kurosawa-senpai was the guy you liked, Kotomi-san…? And senpai… Don't you think it's cruel to lead a girl on…?" Those questions came out in a quiet whisper as she closed her eyes, the tears falling and hitting the table beneath her. For a good minute, she continued to let her tears fall as a familiar cold feeling slowly engulfed her heart. With a trembling hand, she placed it over her chest in an attempt to ease herself from the pain.

 _It's fine… You knew this would happen anyway._

"I'm fine…" She whispered out while bringing her other hand up to her eyes, using the sleeve of her dark blue cardigan to wipe away her tears. "Everything is fine…" Taking a handful of fries from her tray, she stuffed her mouth with them and chewed hastily.

Considering her history with guys, she shouldn't have even tried in the first place… She never received a confession and every guy she confessed to would _always_ reject her. If they didn't reject her initially, they would later. To make matters worse, out of all her friends, she's the only one who has never been in a relationship making her loneliness all the more obvious. She wondered to herself if she should just give up on this relationship nonsense as she stuffed another handful of fries in her mouth, more tears falling as she watched someone she considered a friend, and someone she even told her feeling about, kiss the very guy she's had feelings for since high school.

"If you eat that fast, you'll choke."

Blinking the remaining tears away, her eyes shifted towards the direction of the voice and noticed a boy sitting across from her. Dark red meeting a strangely familiar shade of cool blue.

 _Wait_ _… Why does he seem familiar_ _…? His eyes_ _…_

While she was lost in her thoughts, a fry that was sticking out of her mouth fell to the ground while the boy just continued to sip on his drink nonchalantly with a blank gaze in his eyes. It took a few more seconds before she realized she forgot to chew before swallowing, resulting in a painful cough as a fry got caught in her throat.

The boy sitting in front of her had a concerned look on his face as he put his drink down, quickly taking one of the napkins on the table and handing it to her. "Here, use this."

Hesitantly, she took the napkin and held it to her mouth as she spit out the fry that got lodged into her throat. She made a face after examining the contents of the napkin, wrapping it tightly in another napkin and setting it to the side on her tray. "U-Um… Thank you."

He just nodded, his face remaining as stoic as ever. "You're welcome."

She continued to stare at him. After taking note of his school uniform, she felt a strange sense of relief at the fact that he was younger than her. Her eyes then shifted towards his light blue hair, the color reminding her of a clear sky. Finally, she looked into his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that had some strange calming effect on her.

 _But why?_

"Um…"

His voice snapped her out of her trance, making her face began to heat up as she avoided his eyes while she nervously played with her fingers. "O-Oh! I'm sorry, it's rude to stare…" Once she managed to calm down a bit, she looked into his eyes again. "Uh… I apologize if this comes off as rude, but when did you sit there?"

"I was sitting here first…" He replied before sipping on his drink again.

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief as she propped one of her arms up, leaning her head into her hand as she sipped her chocolate shake. Just how on earth could she miss seeing this boy with light blue hair sitting here? There was no way she would have sit here without noticing him. There was just no way.

"Anyway," In sync, the two of them put their drinks back down on the table before he resumed. "Why were you crying?"

Her eyes widened by a small fraction. If he had been sitting here before she did like had said…

 _That means he saw me crying…_

In an attempt to avoid answering, she casually ran her hand through her fringe, brushing it to the right and out of her eyes. "It's nothing a kid should have to worry about. Since I'm the adult here, shouldn't I be asking you what your problems are?"

At her statement, his brows furrowed a bit. "I'm not the child here."

A small smile curved on her lips at seeing the look on his face. "You look pretty cute when you're pouting like that, you know? And look, I know it's hard to believe, but I can assure you that I'm older than you."

"…"

Her eye twitched a bit, as his stare alone was a dead giveaway that he didn't believe a single word. "I'm not lying…" With a frown, she took out her wallet and tossed her ID in his direction.

After catching it and examining the information written, he hummed. "I see… So your name is Mizuki Kuramochi?" He questioned as he looked up at her from her ID.

Lifting her head up from the table, Mizuki nodded as she took her milkshake in her hand. "That's right. And I promise the ID's not fake, I know I don't look it, but I really am 19. And you would be?"

Setting her ID card aside, he introduced himself with a small bow of his head. "Tetsuya Kuroko."

After finishing the rest of her drink, she put the empty cup down and eyed him up and down. "Well it's nice to meet you, Kuroko-kun." She said with a smile. "So if you don't mind me asking, are you a first year in high school?"

He nodded, putting his cup aside as he also finished his drink. "Yes, at Seirin High."

"I see. Are you apart of any clubs?" It's not really that she was interested in knowing. Honestly, she was just asking all these things in hopes of getting her mind off of the sight of Kurosawa and Kotomi together.

Again, he nodded. "I'm a member of the basketball team."

Unexpectedly, that answer caught Mizuki's interest. She wasn't into basketball as much as her friends were, but she did gain a liking for watching the sport after her friends forced her to attend games. Nowadays, she only goes to games if she has the time to spare or if someone invites her to go watch them.

However, she raised her eyebrow at the fact that Kuroko said he played for Seirin. "Really? Then at the recent Inter-High… Did you play?"

"Yes, I'm a regular."

Her eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion at his statement. "No way, I don't remember seeing you playing…" No matter how much she thought back on the matches she watched, she couldn't remember seeing him on the court during Seirin's games. "Maybe it's because you're so short?"

That statement made him pout a bit. "You're one to talk, Kuramochi-san. I really thought you were 16."

That pout brought a small smile to her face and already made her forget that she was crying just a few minutes ago. "Hey! I resent that! It's not my fault I didn't get my growth spurt yet!"

"I recall reading somewhere that woman stop growing in height after 18."

"…Please don't remind me…"

* * *

Never in her life did she think she would enjoy the company of a random high school student she met by accident. Then again, Kuroko wasn't like most high school students. Unlike the boys from her years in high school, Kuroko was very mature for a guy in general. For one, he actually treated her respectfully unlike the immature boys who would tease her over her small stature and childish facial features.

As the two of them conversed, they learned various things about each other and got into lengthy conversations over them. Mizuki learned about Kuroko's past as a basketball player and his dreams of defeating his old teammates, the Generation of Miracles, with his own style. Kuroko learned that Mizuki was a talented dancer during her years in high school and she dreamed to be able to perform on a stage in front of an audience one day, but she gave up on her dream and chose to focus on her studies.

"So Kuramochi-san, are you ever going to tell me why you were crying earlier?"

The question caught her off guard. She honestly didn't think he would still care about that, plus she was sort of hoping he would have forgotten by now after all the talking they did previously. Deciding to concede, she shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. "Alright then, Kuroko-kun… I guess there's no harm in telling you."

 _It's probably better to vent my problems out to stranger anyway. I doubt I'll ever see him again after this._

With a serious look, she stared right into his eyes. "I know this is stupid, but… To put it simply, I never had a boyfriend…"

Kuroko shook his head. "That's not stupid, Kuramochi-san."

She didn't know why, but hearing him say that gave her a sense of relief. "Thanks for saying so… Some people think I'm just sad about being single all the time, but it's not just that… Unlike a lot of girls, I never experienced a boy confessing to me too. Since that was the case, I ended up trying to be the one to do the confessing, but I always ended up been rejected… The guys I confessed to always said that they just couldn't see me that way because of my height, my face, a lot of reasons relating to physical features I don't really have control over…" She paused, turning to look out the glass walls of the restaurant. "Guys always tell me that they wouldn't want to date me because I look a lot younger than my actual age. It kind of… Disgusts them, I guess you could say."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kuramochi-san… Hearing those kinds of things from people you have feelings for must've hurt you…" Kuroko commented with a small frown curved on his lips.

Slowly, Mizuki nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah… It did hurt me quite a bit… But as for why I was crying earlier, there was a couple passing by outside earlier…" Here, she had a slightly bitter smile on her face as the image of Kotomi and Takumi together flashed in her mind. "The guy in that couple, Takumi Kurosawa, was my senpai back in high school. He was always so nice to me and treated me differently compared to how other guys would, so I always admired him for that."

Kuroko nodded in understanding. "It's only natural to have feelings for someone who treats you nicely."

Pressing her lips together for a moment, she resumed. "I've had feelings for him since the start of my second year, but I never got the chance to confess to him before he graduated and went to Todai. I ended up regretting the fact I never let him know how I felt, so I decided to work my butt off to get into Todai." Mizuki smiled slightly as she recalled the memories of pulling all-nighters to study and do schoolwork. "I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could get the chance to tell him how I felt if I went to the same school as him. I thought that maybe he'd be the guy to accept my feelings and I'd finally get to experience those sweet first loves you read about in novels."

The smile on her face turned bitter and tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes again as she shook her head slowly from side to side. "But this is reality… It's not a romance novel… If I'm the heroine of some love story, then when will things finally go good for me? …You see, I confessed to him when Inter-High ended, and he told me he would give me an answer after giving it some thought. But I finally got my answer today… In probably the most hurtful way possible…"

 _Don't cry, not now…_

Her actions betrayed her thoughts and the pool of tears in her eyes began to overflow, streaming down her slightly red cheeks. Mizuki looked down and shut her eyes tightly, her hands tightening in her lap as she struggled to swallow her cries before speaking again. "I-I'm used to rejection. Every guy I've ever confessed to has rejected me… If he didn't want to date me, he could have just said no instead of giving me a sense of false hope… I would have been just fine with being rejected!" Bringing her hands up to her eyes, she continued to cry, letting the tears hit the surface of her palms. "I don't even care that he's dating one of my friends… I just care that he decided to reject me like this. I know it's pathetic of me to be crying over this when I should've learned from the past experiences. I really should have just given up on this already."

 _Ah, how pathetic. I ended up crying again…_

Under most circumstances, she'd never let herself cry so openly in front of another person. Maybe she allowed herself to cry in front of Kuroko because of the way he made her feel oddly at ease. Or perhaps it was just for the fact that he was a stranger, and that she wouldn't have to subject one of her friends to have the job of putting up with her sobbing mess. Perhaps she just felt like it was finally time to let out the tears of frustration that built up from all her years of being rejected for reasons outside of her control.

As she continued to let the tears flow, she flinched when something soft made contact with her cheek. "You don't deserve to be treated that way, Kuramochi-san."

Mizuki's eyes shot wide open and she looked up at him. Kuroko was holding a plain white handkerchief, using it to wipe away the tears that rolled down her slightly flushed cheeks. Unaccustomed to the kind gesture, she stared at him with her mouth slightly agape accompanied by a dumbfounded look on her face. "…Huh?"

Once the part of the handkerchief he used became too soaked with tears, he turned it over continued to pat her cheeks dry. "He's wrong for treating you that way. If that's how he treats a woman when she confesses her feelings, especially feelings that transcended two years, then he isn't someone who can make you happy."

… _**Bump… Ba-bump…**_

His lips curved slightly, the small but sweet smile on his face causing a familiar sensation of butterflies in her stomach. "You just haven't met the right person yet, Kuramochi-san. Don't let one guy who wasn't worth your time ruin who you are now."

 _ **Ba-bump… Ba-bump…**_

Despite how quiet he was earlier, he continued to speak to her in a warm, comforting tone. "After talking with you and getting to know you, I can tell already tell that you're a very nice person. You're mature, but you aren't too serious and have a good sense of humor. You're also very dedicated to your job and it's amazing to see how much you care for your students, since you're willing to do so much to accommodate for them." He shot her a rather charming smile and said something that rendered her completely speechless. "You're also very pretty, in my opinion. Honestly, I believe any guy who gets to date you should consider himself very lucky. So you shouldn't give up, Kuramochi-san. Or rather, _don't_ give up."

 _ **Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.**_

Mizuki felt blood rushing to her cheeks and her chest tighten uncomfortably.

 _Oh, no way. Nope. This isn't going to happen. Not in a million years. Don't even think about it!_

She had to repeatedly tell her heart to stop beating so fast for a guy she just met a few hours ago.

Pressing her lips together in a thin line, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat before letting out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "T-Thank you… Oh, I-I can do it myself…" With that, she took the handkerchief out of his hand and used it to wipe away the remaining tears.

In an attempt to hide her pink cheeks, she avoided looking into his eyes by lifting her arm up and pulling back the sleeve of her dark blue cardigan, taking a peek at her wristwatch. Her eyes widening when she saw it was already 9 PM. "I-It's already this late?! Oh no, I have a review session with my students at 8 in the morning tomorrow! I need to send a reminder to them before they all forget!"

"Oh, wait Kuramochi-san-"

She didn't wait for him to finish as she hurriedly slung her bag over her shoulder and got out of her seat, turning towards the exit of the restaurant. Standing there for what felt like forever, she smiled softly and spoke. "'One chance in a lifetime.'"

Kuroko cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

Turning towards him fully, she giggled at his slightly confused expression. "That's what my meeting with you today felt like, Kuroko-kun. Something that can only happen once in a lifetime… I'm really happy that I met you today, but I'm afraid that this is also the day we part ways." She held her hands behind her back and bowed her head at him. "Thank you so much, for hearing me out and for the kindness you showed me today. I think I can finally make a step in the right direction because of you." She then raised a hand, smiling widely as she waved at him. "Goodbye, Kuroko-kun. Good luck with your own dreams! I wish you the best!"

She left the restaurant with a skip in her step and a large smile on her face. From this day forward, Mizuki Kuramochi can now move on from her unrequited high school love and focus on finding her own happiness with her newfound self-confidence.

* * *

"Where on earth is it…?" Mizuki panted as she sat on the floor of her room and rested her back against her bed. "I swear I had my ID with me this morning!"

She practically turned everything in her bedroom upside down looking for her ID card. She felt ready to give up after going back to the university to check if she had dropped it there. Did she have to trace her steps back even further than that? "You've got to be kidding me! How could something like this just disappear?!" Closing her eyes, she tapped her middle finger against her left temple while thinking back to yesterday. "Ugh, let's see… The last time I saw my ID card… When…?"

" _So your name is Mizuki Kuramochi?"_

"…Kuroko-kun!" She exclaimed loudly, recalling that she didn't get her ID back when she gave it to him.

Pulling her knees to her chest, her gaze shifted to her desk where the handkerchief he let her use yesterday was sitting. Despite saying they would never see each other again after their initial meeting, she still washed the small cloth in hopes of returning it to him one day. Yes, she knows it was stupid. Besides, in reality, what are the chances of them meeting again? They were something more than strangers, but something less than acquaintances. Their relationship would be nothing more and nothing less than that.

 _"You shouldn't give up, Kuramochi-san. Or rather,_ don't _give up."_

Running her hands through her bangs, she sighed in frustration. "Ugh… I just met him! I shouldn't be feeling this way towards someone I barely even know!"

Well, the fact that she was always the type who believed "love at first sight" wasn't helping her case…

Mizuki stood up and walked towards her desk, taking the handkerchief in one hand while her fingers ran over the soft cotton. "Okay, Mizuki. You're just going to return this to him in exchange for your ID cards. That's all it is. Oh, but the time…"

Looking down at her wristwatch, she frowned when the time read 6 PM. Should she even bother risking it?

 _But what if he went home already…?_

Shaking her head in an attempt to brush away any hesitation that threatened to stop her, she put the handkerchief back on the desk and used the hair tie on her wrist to tie her long white hair into a messy bun. Turning to look into her mirror, she adjusted her bangs so they would frame her face without getting in the way of her eyes and smiled when she got the look she was going for. Hurrying back to her bed, she quickly slipped on her oversized dark blue cardigan and black stockings before rushing back to her desk to neatly fold the handkerchief and store it in her pocket. "It should be safe there…"

After making sure she had her wallet, key, and phone on her, she headed to the door, fumbling a bit when slipping her shoes on. With her hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath and gave a determined nod before opening the door, prepared to venture out into to find Seirin High School.

…No, she wasn't doing this as an excuse to see him again. She was just returning what wasn't hers in exchange for her ID card, if he even had it with him…

 _Yeah, that's all it is. It's nothing more than that._

That was the first time she managed to convince herself.

* * *

After some asking around (and ignoring the constant comments of "ohmygosh you're so tiny and adorable, how old are you?" or "awww, it's cute to see a little sister going to pick up her older brother." from people she talked to) she managed to find her way to Seirin High School. However, seeing that the gym's lights were off, it was already too late. Kuroko probably already left a long time ago.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, she wiped away the sweat that gathered at her forehead with the back of her hand as she walked back the way she came. "Maybe I shouldn't have tried…"

"Tried what, Kuramochi-san?"

Mizuki's heart leapt to her throat when she heard the familiar voice of the very guy who was on her mind all day. Slowly, she turned to see Tetsuya Kuroko standing a few feet behind her, wearing a dark teal and white-stripped shirt and tan pants. There was a basketball tucked under one arm and a small black and white puppy with familiar looking eyes sitting near his feet. Slowly turning to face him completely, she stared right at him with wide dark ruby red eyes. "…Kuroko-kun."

"Arf!" The little puppy barked, panting happily while his tail wagged excitedly.

Kuroko looked a tad confused, probably from the fact that she didn't yelp in surprise like most people did whenever he appeared unexpectedly like that. He just smiled and bowed his head slightly. "It's good to see you again, Kuramochi-san. What are you doing out this late?"

 _Calm down, calm down… Don't be so nervous._

Mizuki swallowed the lump in her throat while her hand nervously scratching the back of her neck as she spoke. "I-I was actually looking for you…"

He gave her a look similar to that of a confused puppy. She had to resist the urge to cup his face in her hands and squeal about how adorable he looked at that moment. "Why's that?"

She chuckled nervously as her hand rose to the back of her head while her other hand dug through her pocket, feeling around for the soft cotton before pulling it out. "Well, um… I was actually looking for you to return this to you."

Taking a few steps towards him to close their distance, she took his free hand in hers, placing the folded handkerchief in his palm. His eyes widened a bit as she released his hand. "Thank you. That reminds me… I also have your ID card. You ran off before you took them back and I couldn't stop you in time."

Mizuki smiled, placing a hand on her chest as she sighed in relief. "Oh thank god, I was freaking out that I'd lost it for good and have to pay for a replacement… Replacements can get pretty expensive!"

"I'm aware. I was planning on stopping by Todai to return them to you, but I don't know your schedule and something happened today, so I ended up not being able to go." He dug through his bag, pulling out the plastic card and held it out to her. "Here you are."

As she reached out to take her cards, a thought itched at the back of her mind.

 _If I take these now, there would be nothing between the two of us anymore._

She'd no longer have a reason to see him anymore and they would go back to being strangers. They would continue to live their lives and whatever happened between them would be long forgotten down the road. Her lips pressed together tightly as her hands gripped her ID card, taking it from his hands and stuffing it into her pocket.

"Well, it was good seeing you again, Kuramochi-san. I'll be heading home now." He smiled at her, bidding her farewell with a wave goodbye before turning around and walking off in the other direction.

 _It's now or never, Mizuki. Say something now or regret it for the rest of your life._

Closing her eyes and tightening her fists at her sides, she ran after him and called out his name. "…Kuroko-kun!"

Kuroko stopped, flinching a bit when she took a hold of the back of his shirt. When she released her grip on his shirt, he turned to face her. "…Yes, Kuramochi-san?"

Her face was burning from embarrassment, but there was no turning back now. Looking at him with a cheerful smile, her hands entwined behind her back. Her palms sweating like crazy as she struggled to get her words out. "I-I wanted to know… Did you eat dinner yet? If not, I can treat you as thanks."

His eyes widened a bit at her offer, but he shook his head. "No, I haven't, but it's alright. I'll be o-"

 _ **Grrrrrrrrr~**_

Mizuki wished she was fast enough to pull out her phone and take a picture of Tetsuya Kuroko with a slightly red face, looking absolutely flustered. But to respect him, she opted to bring a hand up to hide her own slightly red face and smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

She'll save that image in her own memory instead.

* * *

"Thank you for having me over. Are you sure it's okay for me to eat dinner with you at your home?" Kuroko questioned as he took off his shoes.

Mizuki nodded as she removed her cardigan, placing it on the back of one of the chairs at her dining table as she walked into her kitchen. "Of course! Honestly, I feel like you'd find a way to pay for the meal if I took you out to a restaurant or something, so I figured a home cooked meal would be best if I wanted to pay you back properly." While looking through her fridge she hummed a bit. "Hmm… Do you have any allergies I should be aware of?"

He shook his head. "No, I'll be fine."

"Alright, then just sit tight and I'll let you know when I'm done!" She replied back with a smile.

Kuroko walked towards her combined kitchen/living room. While she was busy preparing, he took this time to look around. He quickly took notice of the small things around her apartment, like the cute home decorations to the array of framed photos that were scattered around her apartment. All photos included her with other people, but most had her with what he assumed was her family and close friends. While scanning her various photos, he caught the sight of a photo with a very young Mizuki with shoulder length hair standing next to a familiar looking girl with long black hair and dark pink eyes. "…Kuramochi-san, who's the girl in this photo with you?"

After putting on her white apron adorned with red polka dots, she took a close look at the photo Kuroko was pointing at on her fridge. "Oh, that's Umi Takahashi. You could say that she's my best friend, considering I've known her since I was really young. Do you know her? I believe she's your age and used to attend Teiko, so the two of you might have been in the same class at one point."

He nodded as he stared back at the photo, recalling his own memories of the girl. "She was in my class during our first year and was close with one of my old teammates. I'm sorry to ask, but… Do you know what happened to her? From what I remember, she disappeared before graduation without a trace."

Mizuki remained silent as she got out a cutting board and a large kitchen knife. "…Kuroko-kun, it's really not the right time for me to talk about her. I promise I'll tell you about her one day, but for now…"

From her tone of voice and how she trailed off, he could tell that she didn't want to talk about this. He figured it would be better to drop the subject until the time was right. "…I understand, I'm sorry if it sounded like I was prying."

To put his slight distress at ease, Mizuki shook her head and gave him a comforting smiling. "No, it's alright. It's just, what happened with Umi, I don't feel right talking about it since it's something she probably doesn't want a lot of people to know about…"

"It's nice that you're so considerate for her." Kuroko commented as he took a seat at her small dining table.

A small smile curved on Mizuki's lips as she proceeded cutting up some vegetables. "Yeah… I try to be."

As Kuroko watched her, he couldn't help but think she looked like a little kid trying to cook, seeing that she needed a small stool to help her reach the higher shelves. However, her skill with a knife was enough to prove that she was experienced like a housewife. "You look like you can cook well, Kuramochi-san."

She smiled while she stirred around the vegetables in the frying pan. "Well, I am an older sister to an absolutely adorable little brother, and I've been living on my own for almost a year. With my budget, it's just easier to cook meals. I also had a friend who used to teach me. I'm not sure if you know her, but she's just a year older than you and also went to Teiko. Her name is Setsuna Miyamoto."

He hummed as he tried to remember the name. "…I can't say that her name sounds too familiar. Did she have close friends on the basketball team?"

Mizuki also hummed as she shut off her stove and lifted the pan up, tossing a potholder on the table before setting the steaming hot pan down on table. "Let's see… I believe your old captain, Shuzo Nijimura-kun… Setsuna-chan was close with him, from what I remember correctly."

When Kuroko remembered a girl that his old captain was close with, his eyes widened a bit. With a frown, he stared down at the table. "…I see."

"Arf!"

Looking down at her feet, she saw Nigou wagging his tail at the scent of food. Mizuki smiled while she used a spoon to scoop up some shredded chicken into a bowl. "Don't even think for a second that I forgot about you, Nigou! I made food for you too."

"Arf arf!"

Once she set down the bowl on the floor, Nigou excitedly began to dig in when he saw his owner give the okay.

After scooping rice into two small bowls, she removed her apron and placed it back on the hook on the wall. Bringing the two bowls back to the table, she handed one of the bowls to Kuroko as she took her seat. "Here you are, Kuroko-kun. Feel free to dig in."

He bowed his head slightly as he took his bowl, placing it on the table as he scooped some of the stir-fry and placed it on his plate. Taking his chopsticks in his hand, he placed them together and bowed his head. "Thank you. I'll be eating now."

Mizuki smiled a bit nervously as she watched him take his first bite. "How is it?"

 _Please don't tell me I screwed it up._

His eyes widened as he pulled his chopsticks away from his mouth. "It's very good."

She nodded with a satisfied smile. "Oh, thank goodness. Well, hopefully this'll be enough to help you recover after your practice."

His head tilted to the side as he brought rice into his mouth. "Hmm?"

Embarrassed, she waved her hands in front of her. "Oh, sorry… Well, you see, I was pretty unhealthy in the diet aspect in contrast to my active lifestyle during my high school days, so I had to be careful with my diet or else I'd end up sick and I didn't want you to end up like that. See, since it's dinnertime and I'm assuming you played today since you had a a basketball with you, you need to promote healing and recovery in your muscles at nighttime so you won't be sore the next day…"

Kuroko just stared in awe. "That's amazing, Kuramochi-san… I didn't know you were thinking about that while you were cooking…"

Blushing slightly, she avoided his gaze by looking down at her own plate and bowl. "Well of course, I'm just looking out for you! I mean…" Her lips pressed together as she struggled to let the next words come out of her mouth. "W-We're friends, aren't we?"

The silence that followed her rhetorical question was heavy. She was ready to take back everything she said in an effort to hide her embarrassment then change her name and never return to Tokyo.

 _Okay, maybe I wouldn't go_ that _far, but I would probably never talk to him again after this._

When she looked up, she stopped herself from potentially embarrassing herself even further.

After swallowing the last bit of rice in his bowl, he gave a small smile. "Thank you so much, Kuramochi-san. I'm glad we're friends."

The blush on her face intensified and her heart pounded even louder than last time they talked. She didn't bother to hide her smile from him this time. "I'm glad, Kuroko-kun."

"Um, would it be okay if I had seconds?" He asked a tad nervously, holding his empty bowl out towards her.

She giggled, getting out of her chair and taking his bowl. "Coming right up."

Nigou licked his nose as he finished the contents of his bowl, chasing after Mizuki and excitedly running circles around her feet before barking at her to get her attention.

Looking down at the small puppy, she laughed as he got on his hind legs and rested his front paws against her leg. "Okay Nigou, you can get seconds if Kuroko-kun says it's okay, alright?"

She was honestly amazed when Nigou turned to his owner, sitting down obediently at his feet with his tail wagging. "Arf arf!"

Smiling at his dog, he looked towards Mizuki. "As long as you don't mind, Kuramochi-san. Just don't give him too much."

After giving him his bowl of rice, she nodded with a happy smile on her face while Nigou whined a bit. "Alright, got it."

* * *

After the meal, the black and white puppy rested on a pillow that Mizuki set down for him while the her and Kuroko continued to talk the night away on the couch in her living room.

Mizuki hummed as she crossed her legs in her seat. "So preliminaries for Winter Cup are tomorrow… Are you nervous about it?"

He shook his head. Despite his usually blank expression, Mizuki could see the small hints of passion flickering in his eyes. "Not at all… I'm excited, actually."

She smiled, bringing a hand up to his shoulder to give an encouraging pat. "Good luck tomorrow. I'm free, so I'll come cheer you on."

Kuroko returned the smile while placing his hand on top of hers. "Thank you, Mizuki-san. Also, thank you for the meal, it was very delicious."

Taking her hand back, she brought her it up to her messy bun. Once she removed the small band holding her hair together, she ran her fingers though her bangs as her long white hair cascaded down to her waist. "Of course, I don't mind. It gets lonely eating by myself all the time… Thank you for giving me your company."

He couldn't help but stare at her at that moment. Since her hair was up every time he saw her, he never noticed how long her hair was. He thought it was interesting for someone to have such pure, snow-white hair. Just the fact that it was so long made her seem ethereal, so much so that the words almost got caught in his throat. "…You're welcome. Um… If you don't mind, I can come over when you feel like having company."

Her dark red eyes widened in disbelief. She almost couldn't believe he really said that. His offer brought a content smile on her face while she pulled her stocking covered legs to her chest. "I'd like that a lot, actually. I can give you a call or send a message." Taking her phone out of her pocket, she held it out towards him. "So may we exchange addresses to keep in contact?"

After exchanging phones, they began entering each other's numbers into their contacts. Once they finished, Kuroko couldn't help but smile at the screen showing Mizuki's contact information.

 _Mizuki Kiramochi_ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ _(lol lame I know, feel free to fix it ^^')_

Likewise, Mizuki couldn't hide the smile as she saw Kuroko's contact information on her phone. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she ever exchanged numbers with a guy friend. That thought made her heart feel warm.

When she realized the warm feeling in her heart, she shook her head from side to side. No, she is not feeling anything towards him. It was just nice that they've established their friendship.

 _Yeah, that's all it was. It was nothing more than that._

That was the second time she was able to convince herself.

* * *

Like she had told him, Mizuki went to the preliminary game and cheered on Kuroko's team and was happy to see them make it to the championship league. After Seirin's game against Josei, she sent him a message to congratulate him and his team on their victory as she walked into a coffee shop called Kiss-At-Ten.

After looking around a bit, she spotted a hand waving at her from one of the tables in the corner. Making her way towards the person waving at her, she sat in the booth seat across from a girl with long platinum blonde hair tied into a ponytail. This girl had a white and black snapback and used the brim of the hat to hide her eyes.

Mizuki just smiled towards the girl as she set her purse beside her. "It's been a while… So, mind telling me what made you come back to Japan?"

The blonde smiled, bringing up one of her hands to rest her head against her palm. "Just felt a tad homesick, that's all… Plus, my aunt thinks it's best for me to recover here rather than thousands of miles away. There's also this feeling I have that he'll come back… I know it's stupid to come back here just based on a hunch, but I just couldn't shake the feeling."

Shaking her head, Mizuki stared at the girl in front of her. "That sixth sense of yours is never far off the mark though. But I hope you understand how worried your mother has been about you. She keeps calling and asking me about you, like where you went and all that." Mizuki frowned a bit as she recalled the amount of times she's gotten calls from the girl's mother. "I've respected your wishes and just told her that you're doing fine, but please… Since you're here, you really should go see her. She really misses you and wants to talk to you."

The blonde just sighed as she folded a napkin with one hand. "Mizuki-san, I can't… It's not that easy for me to just see her again… Going back to see her would mean returning to my old life, but I can't return to that until I finally settle on my situation with him once and for all… Whether that situation ends on a good note or a bad one, I promise I'll go back and fix my relationship with my mother. Besides, this time I'm planning on staying in Japan, I promise you."

The older white haired girl hummed as she tapped her fingernail on the table. "Well, in case you wanted an update on him, he's the same from what I've heard. No changes since that time."

The platinum blonde sighed as she lifted the brim of her snapback to reveal her light blue left eye and dark pink right eye. "Oh well… Not like I expected him to… Thanks for letting me know."

"Sorry to keep you two lovely ladies waiting." Standing near their table was a fairly tall and very handsome young man with chocolate brown hair and light pink highlights in his bangs. He gave the two of them a charming smile before he began placing various plates and cups on their table. "Here are your orders. For the blonde beauty, a cup of Darjeeling tea and a small chocolate cake. For the lovely snow white, a cup of thai mixed with sweetened milk and a side of honey toast. Please enjoy."

Mizuki was confused as she stared at the desserts that he set onto the table in front of her. "Um, Kou-kun, we didn't order any desserts… Was there a mistake in our order?"

The young man, Kou, shook his head as he took one of Mizuki's hands and kissed the back of it lightly while throwing in a flirty wink. "No, it wasn't a mistake, my dear princess. It's on me, okay?"

She gave a kind smile as she pulled her hand away from him. "Thank you, Kou-kun."

The blonde just nodded towards him as she gently stirred her cup of tea. "Yeah, thanks, Kou…"

Kou shot them a handsome smile that would make any other girl's heart flutter. "No problem. Enjoy your meal. And Mizuki-san, call me when you're eating, I'll be glad to feed you your honey toa-ACK!"

"Kou! Quit flirting and get back to work, you idiot!"

The young man grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head where he had been hit, walking back behind the counter as he whined. "Yes ma'am… You know, you should really pull your punches, I'll get brain damage one day because of you."

The elder woman with silvery blonde hair rolled her dark purple eyes in annoyance as she returned to her position behind the register. "Oh please, you already _have_ brain damage."

Looking down at her tea cup, Mizuki couldn't help but smile at seeing the cute heart-shaped whipped cream. "Kou-kun is always so nice to me… But he really should stop being such a flirt or he'll have trouble finding someone when he wants to settle down."

The platinum blonde shrugged as she continued to stir her tea, watching the steam evaporate. "Meh, Kou will be fine. If he does have trouble down the line, I promised that I'd help him."

"That's nice of you. If I can't be there for him, please do help him when he needs it." Mizuki commented as she closed her eyes and brought the tea cup up to her lips, taking a sip of her tea and enjoying the sweet taste while the warmth spread through her body.

After finishing her cake and taking a sip of her own tea, the blonde spoke hesitantly. "…Hey, Mizuki-san… Am I stupid for still loving him after all this time?"

Peeking one of her eyes open, Mizuki set her cup down on the table before looking right into the other girl's heterochromatic eyes. "You of all people know my experience when it comes to the romance department, so I'll speak from life experiences… I'm going to say that in my eyes, you're not. I know how much you loved him and you're not stupid for hanging on after all these years. Besides, everything you did in the past wasn't for yourself, it was all for his sake. You just truly love him, and it's not something you should think is stupid. But even if you are, people do stupid and crazy things for the ones they love, so you're not alone on that. After all, you can never forget your first true love."

The blonde set down the empty cup on the small plate and got up from her seat before wiping her mouth with a napkin and walking off. "…Thanks, Mizuki-san. I gotta go home now and finish unpacking. My contact info is still the same, so call me up anytime. Oh, but give me a while to recover from the jet lag. I'll see you later."

Mizuki kept her expression neutral as she watched the girl walk away. Returning her gaze to her half empty cup, she tightly gripping the handle with a sad smile on her face. "…I hope you'll finally have your happy ending, Umi-chan…"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (November 5 2015): In response to rukiruki86's question in reviews, this story is **NOT** haremxOC.

EDIT (December 27 2016): Slight edits here and there to polish up the chapter a bit more from the previous version. Also made some changes to the character dialogue to make them feel more in-character (Ex. Kuroko referring to Mizuki as "Kuramochi-san")

I apologize if the pacing isn't ideal, the future chapters will (hopefully) get better. I'm so happy to finally finish and release this!

Anyway, hello! Welcome to my new series, Wasurenagusa! This is my first time writing for Kuroko no Basket, so I'm pretty nervous. I apologize for any OOC-ness, I tried my best to keep people in character but I might fail miserably in those aspects. Just bear with me, hopefully things will get better as the series goes on.

As you may have read from the summary, this is a series of four different love stories. At the moment, I can't say for sure how many chapters each story will be, but each chapter will be titled to make it easy for anyone who just wants to read a specific story. However, **I highly recommend reading all the stories for the full experience.**

Okay, so I'm saying this right now, this first chapter is somewhat of a test to see how many people would be interested in reading this series. This was a small project that was originally supposed to be a one shot series, but I decided to expand it and make it a series of stories instead. So please, any feedback would be appreciated! Thank you for reading!

-Ari


	2. Devotion Chapter Two

_"Don't smile at me. If I get attached to you, I'll become sad."_

 _-Big Bang (Let's Not Fall In Love)_

"Kou-kun! Please, hurry up! I want to get good seats!"

The taller, chocolate brown haired male frowned a bit when his shorter companion pulled him by his arm through the entrance of the seating area of the stadium. "Mizuki-san, not trying to be rude, but… Remind me why you're bringing me here? You know I hate basketball…"

Mizuki pouted a bit while looking up at Kou with her best puppy dog eyes. "Aww Kou-kun, pleeeeeaase? Umi-chan didn't want to come out today since she's still jet lagged and you're my only other close friend… It's lonely coming here by myself! Just this one time, I promise!"

He just shook his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I love you, Mizuki-san. I really do, like seriously, I'd marry you… But this is just one thing I-"

"You!"

The two of them exchanged confused looks before turning towards the source of the unknown voice. A boy with short greenish black hair wearing what they both recognized as Kaijo's uniform approached them. This stranger took one of Mizuki's hands in both of his before looking down at her with a charming smile. "My friends made a bet that I couldn't talk to the prettiest girl I see today. Would you like to use their money to for our date tonight?"

"Eh? U-Um…" Mizuki was struck speechless in that moment. No guy has ever approached her like this before, so she wasn't sure how to react. "I… Uh… Well…"

Even though she was visibly uncomfortable with the situation, he still persisted. "C'mon, let's get dinner before you have to go back to heaven, angel- DWAH!"

Kou's fist made contact with this stranger's face and knocked the poor boy to the ground. Kou's jaw was clenched as he shot a heated glare at the boy on the ground. Walking next to her, Kou wrapped an arm around Mizuki's shoulders protectively. "Hey shithead, couldn't you see how uncomfortable you were making her?! I swear, if you lay a hand on Mizuki-san like that again, I'll make sure you regret it!"

"C'mon Moriyama-senpai, let's go back to the others before Kasamatsu-senpai gets mad and kicks me again!" A tall blond wearing the same Kaijo uniform as the black haired boy approached them.

The teen named Moriyama sulked as he walked away from them. The blond turned towards the two of them and scratched the back of his head, giving an apologetic look. "Hey, I'm really sorry about Moriyama-senpai! He's always like that towards girls- Huh?" The blond stared at Kou with curious golden eyes. "Have I… Seen you before?"

"Geh!" Kou quickly pulled down his fedora and looked away in an attempt to hide his face from the blond.

Mizuki looked at Kou with a scrutinizing gaze as she removed his arm from her shoulders. "Kou-kun? What's wrong?"

Kou clicked his tongue, cursing quietly under his breath. "Fuck!"

"Ah, Seocchi!" The blond exclaimed happily while placing both of his hands on the shoulders of the brown haired boy.

The white haired girl cocked her head to the side as she looked up at the tall boy beside her. "'Seocchi'… Does he mean you, Kou-kun?"

Kou's eye twitched in annoyance as he brought his fedora back onto his head, brushing his hand through his light pink highlighted bangs to fix his hair. "I thought I told you that we aren't friends outside of work, Kise…"

The cold words caused the tall blond to pout like a puppy. "Aww Seocchi, why're you always so cold to me?"

Mizuki put her hand to her chin as she stared at the pouting blond named Kise. "Do you know him? I feel like I've seen him before, but I can't put my finger on it…"

Scratching the back of his neck, he sighed. "Sure, you can put it like that… Mizuki-san, the blond idiot is Ryota Kise. You remember when I got scouted to be a part-time model for Zunon Boy a few years ago? That's how I met this annoying bastard."

 _Ah, that explains why he looked familiar…_

Mizuki wasn't really interested in models, but she only bought Zunon Boy magazines if Kou was on the cover to show her support for her friend's career. However, she does recall seeing Kise in those magazines whenever she would scan through them on her free time. Now that she was actually seeing him in real life for the first time, it was hard to think that such a cool looking model was actually so…

Kise had tears streaming down his frowning face in a comical manner as Kou pushed his hands away from him. "So mean, Seocchi…"

…Flamboyant in real life.

 _Then again, the same could be said about Kou-kun… Maybe it's a modeling thing?_

Kou's cerulean eyes glared at Kise with a fire hot intensity. To Mizuki, it felt off seeing her friend who's usually so bright and cheerful around her look so angry towards someone. "Does it look like I care? I'm only buddies with you when we're both caked in the face with makeup and in front of a camera. I know I made it very clear to you that I don't think of you as a friend, nor am I interested in being friends with someone like you." With those cold words, Kou quickly walked away from them. "Mizuki-san, you can go pick the seats, I'm going out for a smoke. I'll make it back before they start."

"Ah, Kou-kun! Wait!" She reached a hand out to grab him, but he was already out of arm's reach. Once he was gone from their sights, Mizuki turning towards Kise and bowed deeply with a small frown on her face. "I-I'm so sorry about Kou-kun… I swear, he's not usually like that…"

Despite how he was treated, Kise just shook his head and gave a small smile towards the older girl. "It's fine. He's always like that with me, so I don't really mind it too much. I was probably pushing my luck there… Uh… Mizuki-san, was it?"

Raising her head, she nodded. "Ah yes, I'm Mizuki Kuramochi!"

"Well Kuramochi-san, if you're okay with it, my teammates and I have two empty seats near us if you can't find any other seats." Kise offered with a smile as he pointed towards a group of boys wearing Kaijo's uniform.

 _Wow, he's really offering us seats even though Kou-kun was so rude to him earlier? He's so mature… If only Kou-kun would foliow his example._

She nodded. "If you don't mind. Thank you so much, Kise-kun!"

As the two walked towards the area, the blond decided to ask questions to strike up conversation. "So I'm assuming you're older than you look? Moriyama-senpai was going on about how he saw an older beauty in the distance before he ran towards you and Seocchi."

Mizuki chuckled nervously as she recalled the strange event. "Yeah, I'm 19 years old and cursed to be 152 cm for the rest of my life. I'm honestly surprised he noticed considering most people just assume that I'm 15 or 16 because of my height and appearance…"

Kise chuckled, hiding his handsome smile behind a hand. "I thought the same at first, honestly. But I guess you could say he found out because he's girl crazy…" As his words trailed off, a thought popped up in his mind and he decided to bring it up. "By the way, Kuramochi-san… Is there any specific reason you came to watch today's game? I know Seocchi isn't really a big fan of basketball, so I was really surprised to see him here today."

She nodded with a small smile on her face, her cheeks tinting a slight pink color as Kuroko's face flashed in her mind. "Oh yeah, I'm here to watch the game today. I have a friend on Seirin's team and I told him I'd come to cheer for him, but I felt lonely coming here on my own… I asked Kou-kun to come and keep me company and he surprisingly agreed to it."

"I'm impressed you got him to agree… Usually when I ask him to come hang out, he never agrees to it and just leaves me." Kise's lips pursed into a pout as he recalled all the times Kou slammed the door in his face whenever Kise asked to talk to him after photo shoots. "Ah, but before I forget to ask, who's your friend?"

The moment he asked, Mizuki's cheeks felt a tad hot as she looked down and nervously stuttered his name. "T-Tetsuya Kuroko-kun. Do you know him, Kise-kun?"

The part-time model stopped walking before looking at her with an expression mixed with surprise and excitement. "No way! You know Kurokocchi?!"

"Eh?" The affectionate nickname caught her off guard. "'K-Kurokocchi'…? I-I mean, yes, I do know him. You two also know each other?"

Kise puffed his chest out proudly. "Indeed we do! He was my personal instructor for basketball back in middle school."

She hummed in amusement over Kise's overdramatic actions. "I see, then that means you also went to Teiko…"

 _I wonder if that means he met Umi, Kou, and Setsuna while he was there…_

Brushing away the thought from her mind, Mizuki looked up at Kise with curiosity. "Hey Kise-kun, is there any reason for the nicknames you give people? You refer to both Kou-kun and Kuroko-kun with '-cchi' so it got me a bit curious."

"Ah, I give those nicknames to people I respect." He explained, as he remembered the days he first referred to Kou with the nickname. "I know Seocchi doesn't like the nickname, but I can't help it. When I first met him, I didn't expect much. But as I worked with him, I learned that he's amazing at everything he does! He did his own makeup for the first photo shoot we did together, he's a natural at modeling, and he even knows how to fix clothes! He's really talented and I found so many reasons to respect him."

Mizuki giggled. "Haha, I see. Kou-kun is indeed very talented. His talents expand even beyond what you just said, so I agree that he's a very remarkable person." A small smile curved on her face as she looked up at Kise. "Well, I know he's a bit rough around the edges around you, but don't let Kou-kun's attitude affect you. He's very kind and caring once you get to know him, kind of like an adorable little brother! Though, for you, I guess he'd be an older brother… But you know, I honestly think he does consider you a friend."

Those words caught Kise off guard and he looked down at Mizuki with slightly wide golden eyes. "You think so, Kuramochi-san?"

Confidently, Mizuki nodded her head. "Yeah! If he didn't think of you as a friend, he'd just ignore you. He probably just acts this way around you because he hasn't had many male friends before." As the two of them approached the seats, Mizuki looked at Kise with a gentle smile. "Kise-kun, if you don't mind… Please continue to be friends with Kou-kun."

After a few moments, Kise just returned the smile. "Of course."

The Kaijo ace greeted his teammates before introducing Mizuki to them. He was entertained as each of his teammates introduced themselves to her, most of his amusement coming from his usually composed captain becoming a stuttering mess as he struggled to introduce himself to her.

"Mizuki-san… What the hell is this?"

Mizuki just smiled at Kou, who had approached the group with a frown. "I found us seats! Now before you complain, I'll be sitting next to you, okay? So don't pout."

Despite her attempt at a compromise, he still pouted. She couldn't help but find his expressions cute, as it reminded her of her own younger brother. The boy sighed as he pressed his hand against his forehead. "Like I said earlier, Mizuki-san… I love you, and yes, I mean I'd marry you, but-"

Rolling her eyes, she silenced him by taking his other hand and holding it tightly. "I promise I'll hold your hand the entire game, okay? So no more complaining, please?"

 _And here it comes…_

Kou blushed heavily as he stared at their joined hands. Avoiding her eyes, he used his other hand to try and hide his glowing pink cheeks from view. "…Y-You promised, okay? No complaining if I seriously don't let go for the entire game."

The buzzer sounded, signaling the start of the game. She just sighed and nodded her head as they both sat down. "Alright."

* * *

The Seirin vs. Kirisaki Dai Ichi match was too hard to watch. The Kaijo boys felt distraught watching Mizuki flinch and cover hers eyes every time she witnessed someone getting hit. Meanwhile, Kou just watched the match with cold eyes while he held Mizuki's hand in a tight grip.

When the game was officially over, Kou quickly stood up from his seat before people began to leave. "Mizuki-san, we're going."

She wasn't even given time to protest as he pulled her out of her seat. The girl quickly gave her thanks and said goodbye to the Kaijo team before she was pulled away. Kou was walking fast, but he still walked slowly enough for Mizuki's shorter paces to keep up with his longer strides.

Once they were outside of the stadium and in a designated smoking area, he let go of her hand. Digging through his pocket, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter before putting one of the sticks to his mouth. He flicked the lighter a few times before he lit the cigarette, taking a deep breath before blowing out a cloud of smoke in frustration. Only after taking a drag did he notice that Mizuki's hand was red from how tightly he was gripping it earlier. "…Sorry about that…"

Looking down at her red hand, she shook her head. "No, I understand… I'm sorry… Watching that must've been hard for you."

"It's hard for _both of us_ considering what we had to watch her go through before…" Kou corrected as he flicked the cigarette, letting the ash fall to the metal dish before pulling it back up to his lips to take another puff. "I know I was closer to her before, but she's just as much of a friend to you as she was to me…"

Their eyes met, Mizuki's dark red eyes reflecting regret while Kou's eyes shone with determination. "I-I understand that, but…"

"Mizuki-san, stop." Kou interrupted her before taking another drag, exhaling so the smoke also escaped through his nose. "That match today just brought up bad memories, that's all… It's not your fault, Mizuki-san… From your looks, I don't think you knew it would play out like that either."

Nodding her head, she took his free hand in hers. After examining it, she took note of the red crescent shaped marks on his palms and gently closed his fist. She held his closed fist with both hands and looked right into his cerulean blue eyes. "Kou-kun, I-"

The girl brought her hand to her mouth to cough as she accidentally inhaled some of the smoke. Reluctantly, he took his hand out of her grip and used it to wave away the smoke from her. "Mizuki-san, you don't have to stay here with me. I know you hate the smoke, so it's alright for you to go on ahead. I'll just head home when I'm done."

"…Are you sure?" She questioned quietly.

Nodding, he flicked away more of the ash that gathered at the end of the cancer stick while waving her away his other hand. "Go on. Just be sure to message me when you make it home, alright?"

Reluctantly, Mizuki bid Kou farewell as she walked away from him. Like Kou had said, she hated cigarette smoke. She always felt light headed whenever she was around it. Since she still felt a bit dizzy, she decided to take a seat somewhere and get some fresh air to clear her head before heading home. As she looked around for a place to sit, she spotted a familiar figure with light blue hair on the basketball court near the stadium. While his back was turned towards her, Mizuki silenced her steps as she walked down the cement stairs. Once she was close to the bottom, she took a seat on one of the steps as Kuroko dribbled the ball.

However, he stopped dribbling and just held the ball in his hands for a moment. "Hello, Kuramochi-san."

She laughed since he didn't even have to turn around to know she was there. "Haha, I've been noticed… Good evening to you, Kuroko-kun."

After spending many dinners together and even hanging out with each other on their weekends, she managed to get over her shyness around him and the two of them have developed a comfortable friendship. Yes, she still had some feelings towards him, but she didn't like him and she wasn't in love with him.

At least, that's what she believes.

Kuroko had a small smile on his face as he turned to face her. "What brings you here?"

Humming, she shrugged her shoulders as she pushed herself off the steps and slowly made her way towards him. "Just getting some fresh air before I head home… What about you? You just played, didn't you? The match wasn't enough for you or something?"

After putting his basketball away in his bag, he held his right hand up for her to see. "I did, but… Now that Seirin won the preliminaries and is advancing to Winter Cup, I don't know why, but I just can't stop shaking."

Mizuki stared at his shaking hand. Smiling, she placed her hand in his and held it gently, feeling every little shake between her fingers. "You're excited, that's why. You're slowly making your way towards your dream and this shaking is your anticipation." Looking up, her dark red eyes met his cerulean eyes. "Good job, Kuroko-kun. I knew you could do it, so keep it up."

"Thank you, Kuramochi-san." Kuroko unconsciously held her hand back and the two of them lowered their hands, standing a bit closer to each other. "Ah, before I forget… I'm sorry, but I'll be away at a training camp for all of next month, so I won't be able to come over for dinner."

After hearing the news, she pouted and puffed her cheeks up slightly as she looked away from him. "Aww, so you're leaving me all alone next month?"

Kuroko looked a bit panicked at seeing her pouting face. "I'm really sorry… Please don't be upset, Kuramochi-san. I promise I'll make it up to you with anything."

Mizuki couldn't help but think it was cute seeing her usually composed friend looking so panicked over the thought of making her upset. She decided to push her luck and continued to pout. "…Anything?" A smile slowly replaced the pout on her face and she chuckled, looking into his eyes. "Then just be sure to call me at least once while you're away at your camp. That can be our substitute for the next month while you're away. Does that work?"

Realizing her pouts earlier were just a playful act, he smiled slightly and looked back into her eyes. "Okay, I will."

While there were no more words exchanged between them, the two of them just continued to stare into each other's eyes as their hands remained connected. Suddenly, a strong breeze blew and loosened the already loose hair tie holding up Mizuki's hair in her usual bun.

"Ah…" The tie holding her up snapped, causing her hair unraveled from the bun and cascade down her back. She broke her gaze away from his and used her other hand to hold some of her hair back behind her ear. A frown etched onto her face as she looked at the broken tie on the ground. "Dang it… I don't have a spare tie…"

Kuroko continued to stare. Under the light of the moon, she seemed to glow. The wind continued to blow while her bangs gently caressing her face. Unconsciously, he brought his other hand up to push her bangs away from her face. "…There."

Looking up at him, she only now began to feel the slight heat in her cheeks when she realized he was staring at her so intently. "Hmm? What's wrong, Kuroko-kun?"

"Nothing's wrong. I was just looking at your hair…" He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled his hand away with a gentle look in his eyes and a matching smile on his lips. "It looks prettier when you let it down."

Mizuki's eyes widened and attempted to hide her red cheeks by avoiding his gaze, only to catch sight of their joined hands. When she noticed that, her blush intensifying tenfold as she hesitantly pulled her hand out of his grasp. Nervously, she intertwined her hands behind her back while praying and hoping that her hands weren't sweating while they were unconsciously holding hands. "R-Really now…? Then I… I guess I should consider wearing it this way more often then…"

…No. No, she did not like Tetsuya Kuroko. She was not blushing because the guy she likes just complimented her. She's just blushing at the fact that she got a compliment.

 _Yeah, that's all it is. It's nothing more than that._

By that time, she could no longer use her fingers to keep count of how many times she managed to convince herself.

* * *

"I'm glad to see that you're back to your usual self." Mizuki commented as she strained the pot of tea.

Umi was sitting at the dining table, smiling happily while she kicked her feet under the table. The platinum blonde looked a lot more energetic than the last time the two of them saw each other. "Well the time we met up, I was still jet lagged. Now that I've had some time at home to adjust, I'm back, baby!"

Yes, this is the same Umi Takahashi from last time in the coffee shop. Umi's personality is actually a lot more energetic and cheerful. That time at the coffee shop was probably one of the few rare instances that Umi would be quiet and serious around her. Mizuki couldn't help but smile at seeing the bright cheerfulness of her best friend. "Welcome back, Umi-chan."

The platinum blonde smiled widely. "Thanks. But moving on, how has the love life been? Last I remember from your emails, you were crushing on your senpai from high school… Ugh, what the fuck was his name…?" Umi's brows furrowed together as she snapped her fingers trying to remember. "Oh, Kurosawa, right?! Any progress? C'mon, give me the details. I want to hear about _everything._ "

Mizuki hummed as she poured two cups of tea, mixing in small amounts of milk and sugar in both of them. "Actually, about Kurosawa-senpai… I gave up on him."

"…Excuse me? Did I hear that right?" Umi stared at the white haired girl with a look of disbelief.

The older girl just sighed as she placed the cup of chai in front of Umi and the other in front of her own chair. Taking her seat next to Umi, Mizuki nodded as she used a spoon to mix her tea. "Yes, you heard me correctly. I gave up on Takumi Kurosawa-senpai."

Umi stared her down, her mouth curved in a frown. "…Who are you and what did you do with Mizuki-san?"

Groaning, Mizuki glared slightly at the younger girl next to her. "Is it really hard to believe that I'm over him, Umi-chan?"

"No, but…" Continuing to stare at her with narrowed eyes, Umi pressed her lips together tightly before speaking up. "…Hey, is there something else you're not telling me?"

After taking a sip from her cup and setting it back down on the table, Mizuki shrugged with her eyes closed. "Like what?"

"You see, I've known you for a long time, Mizuki-san. The Mizuki-san I know would be torn up about rejection for a _long_ time. Then she would lock herself in her room and not bother coming out for anything except school. While in her room, she would shovel down bowls of jajangmyeon or cartons of ice cream while watching k-pop music videos and playing otome games until she found a new guy to crush on." Umi said as she casually took a sip of her own cup of tea.

"Umi-chan, I'm 19 now. I've matured since then…" Mizuki sighed as brought her cup back up to her mouth.

Staring the older girl down, Umi's light blue and dark pink eyes widened as she slammed a hand down on the table. "No fucking way, you already have someone else you like?!"

Mizuki kept her eyes closed but felt her face warm up as she avoided Umi's suspecting gaze, continuing to sip at her cup despite there being little to no tea left inside of it.

Umi rested her head on her propped up arm while her lips curved into a mischievous smirk. "…Seriously Mizuki-san… Even to this day, your poker face still sucks. Now out with it missy, what's his name? If not the name, then how old is he? You better tell me right now or else."

Silence.

The platinum blonde's mouth hung open in shock. "Dang Mizuki-san, he my age?!"

Mizuki flinched and quickly put her empty cup down, Umi smiling widely when she realized she hit the nail on the head. "I-It's not like that, Umi-chan! I don't _like_ him! He's just… He was just nice to me after the whole deal with Kurosawa-senpai and he's just a friend! I promise you, I _don't_ like him! B-But his name is… Tetsuya Kuroko-kun…" The older girl could feel her face getting redder after saying his name.

Umi's eyes widened a small fraction. "…The phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles, huh? Dang Mizuki-san, you and I both know that you've always preferred older guys… So, any reason this one caught your attention?"

The intensifying blush on the white haired girl's face confirmed everything Umi wanted to know. "…W-Well, it's hard to say why… We just met on accident and he just happened to be there when I needed someone to comfort me, and I was lucky he was kind enough to let me cry and stuff. But l-like I said, he's just a friend."

Shaking her head slightly, Umi gave her older friend a small smile. "So, you won't try to go past the friend zone?

The blush on Mizuki's face died down and her expression hardened. "Umi-chan, we're just friends, okay? I really don't intend to be anything more than that."

Giving a firm nod, Umi's expression hardened to a serious one as she placed a hand on Mizuki's shoulder encouragingly. "Okay, good. I was hoping you'd say that."

Curious, the white haired girl looked up to meet the platinum blonde's heterochromatic eyes with slightly narrowed eyes. "…Why's that?"

* * *

"Hmm? So the coach's dad said you'll be hitting a wall soon?"

" _Yes. He said it's up to me on how I overcome it, but…"_ His voice trailed off as he continued to walk around the gym.

Mizuki closed her eyes and lied on her side, humming in deep thought as she held one of her pillows close to her chest. "Well, I can't give you much advice when it comes to basketball… But I can offer some general life advice if that might help."

 _"Honestly, any advice at this point would be appreciated."_

She giggled. "Alright, let's see if I can help you here…" Mizuki closed her eyes, humming slightly as she tried to think of any encouraging words she could offer him. "…Well, the only walls that hold you back are the walls that you put around yourself."

"' _Walls that I put around myself?'"_ He questioned as he stopped by a vending machine.

She nodded as she sat up in her bed. "Yeah, the walls you build around yourself. In others words, what you believe are your limits. I guess what I'm trying to say is… Tear down the expectations you have of yourself and go farther, maybe somewhere outside of your comfort zone. Push yourself harder than usual and prove to yourself that you're capable of more than what you originally thought. Something like that, you know?"

Kuroko smiled, imagining the encouraging look on her face based on her tone. _"I see what you're saying… Thank you for the advice, Kuramochi-san."_

She also smiled as she held her phone closer to her ear. "You're welcome, Kuroko-kun. By the way, I'm surprised that you've actually been called me more than once while you're away at training camp… I did tell you just one phone call while you're away would've been fine, right?"

Maybe it was because he wasn't standing in front of her at that moment, but Kuroko allowed the embarrassment to show on his face. _"Well… I miss having dinner and talking with you, Kuramochi-san. Your food is always delicious and I enjoy talking with you, so I guess I just feel a bit homesick in a way."_

Not expecting those words, Mizuki felt her chest and cheeks grow warm. She shook her head from side to side to shake away the feelings as she calmly exhaled a breath. "I also miss eating together. Oh! When you come back, let me know so we can go back to having dinner together like usual. Also, when you win your first match, tell me what you want me to cook for you, okay? Every time you win, you get to request something as a reward for all your hard work!"

Kuroko's eyes widened when he realized what she said. _"'Every time we win'… You have a lot of faith in us."_

Mizuki nodded with a smile on her face. "Of course. I believe in all of you, so go and win your first match, okay? Make me proud for putting all my faith into Seirin from the start."

He nodded despite the fact that she couldn't see him. _"Okay."_ Suddenly, he heard his name being called. _"…I have to go back now. I need to rest before training tomorrow, so I'll have to end the call soon."_

Before he started saying his goodbyes, Mizuki opened her mouth. "Wait, Kuroko-kun! Before you go, I have something to ask you!"

Kuroko raised a brow at the sudden increase in volume and urgent tone of her voice. _"What is it, Kuramochi-san?"_

Her mouth was open, but no sound came out. After what felt like a minute of silence, she bit her lower lip in frustration before smiling bitterly at herself. "…Sorry, it's… It's nothing. I'll ask you another time, so you can go to bed now. Haha, sorry about that!"

Even though he wasn't there, he could tell just from the way she spoke… She was lying about it being nothing. _"…I see. Well, I'll be going now then. Good night, Kuramochi-san. Sleep well."_

Lowering her head, her lower lip trembled a bit. "Y-Yeah… Good night, Kuroko-kun. Good luck with your training tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

With that, the two of them hung up. Setting her phone to the side and plugging it in the charge over night, Mizuki closed her eyes and pulled her pillow to her face. The question that got stuck in her throat continued to run through her mind and haunted her into her sleep.

 _Do you have feelings for a girl named Satsuki Momoi?_

* * *

Mizuki panted heavily as she rested her back against the mirrored wall of the small dance studio. The music continued to play as she wiped the sweat away from her face and chugged half a bottle of water.

So what exactly was she doing in a dance studio? Well, it's a bit of a long story…

 _"Please Mizuki-san!"_

 _Said white haired girl had her back to the wall outside of her apartment, waving her hands in front of herself frantically. "N-No way, Kou-kun… I just can't do that…"_

 _The tall part-time model then got on both of his knees in front of her. "Mizuki-san, please! I'm asking this far in advance to give you time to prepare! I'm just asking for just one performance! Just one song is fine! C'mon, think of the orphans!"_

 _She couldn't help but feel bad as she looked down at Kou who was literally putting his face to the ground as he begged. "Kou-kun, I'm not who I used to be… I've changed so much since I graduated… My skills are sloppy now. You're better off asking someone else…"_

 _So what was this favor? To put it simply, the coffee shop Kou worked at was planning a charity event on December 21st. The charity event was a talent show for something about helping an orphanage raise money for the holidays. Apparently, Umi told Kou about her history as a dancer and this was why he was currently on the ground, begging her to do a performance for the event._

 _Kou got off the ground, wiping his face with his shirt collar as he dug through his bag. "Alright, I didn't want to do this… But you've forced me, Mizuki-san."_

 _Her dark red eyes widened and she took a step towards him. "No way… Is that what I think it is?"_

 _He nodded with a determined look on his face. "Yes, it is… An album from B.A.P. It's signed by all members."_

 _Mizuki bit her lower lip, trying her best to restrain herself. Letting her self control take over, she just walked towards her apartment door and dug through her bag to get her keys. "W-Whatever, that doesn't ma-"_

 _"Ah, did I forget to mention that I've also included another album into this deal?"_

 _She stopped digging through her bag and slowly pulled her hand out. "…And what would that be?"_

 _Kou nodded with a triumphant smile etched onto his lips when he saw her turn towards him. "EXO, also signed."_

 _She stood in front of him, holding back the biggest urge to hug Kou and squeeze the life out of him. "Done!"_

Mizuki let out a heavy sigh as she looked down at her body. Despite still being on the petite side, she could see the little jiggles around her tummy from the excess weight she gained from not exercising. On top of that, her movements appeared sloppy. "Looks like I'll have to go back to working out if I want to even manage a decent performance…"

"You need help there, Mizuki-san?"

The white haired girl just sighed as she closed her eyes. "Umi-chan, if you offer to train me back into shape, then forget it. You'd kill me…"

Umi clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she sat besides Mizuki, digging through the tote bag she brought with her. "Hey, when Kou told me that he managed to get you to do a performance for that charity, he was also kind enough to ask me to help you out. Look, we both know you haven't been keeping yourself in shape since you quit going to dance school. Now I know my training regimes are intense, but you'll get ideal results within a week and have more time to focus on practicing your performance. Besides, I think I have something to convince you."

Pushing herself off the ground, Mizuki began to walk towards the small speaker sitting on a chair across the studio. "Oh great, another bribe? Thanks, but no-" Her eyes widened as she saw what Umi was holding in her hand. "Is that a signed Big Bang album?"

The platinum blonde nodded with a triumphant smile as she playfully waved the album. "Yup, and I believe this is their latest album. If I remember correctly, this was the band that started your k-pop hype, so I picked this up while I was traveling. I also have a signed poster waiting at my place, but since it looks like you don't want it, I'll just-"

Groaning in annoyance, Mizuki began to stretch her arms. "Alright, I get it! I'll let you train me into shape!" When she got onto the ground to stretch her legs, she looked up at Umi with a frown. "…I hate you and Kou-kun sometimes, you know that?"

"Well the two of us will love you no matter what, so you hating us will balance it out. Now then, let's start with those legs. You're already warmed up, so let's start off with one hundred squats, right now! No breaks, Mizuki-san!" Umi ordered.

* * *

"Uhhh… So Umi…"

"Hm? What's up, Kou?" Umi questioned curiously.

Kou scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I know I asked you to help Mizuki-san with getting her back into shape, but… She literally looks like she's gonna collapse just trying to stand." He had a worried expression on his face as he watched Mizuki whine while Umi massaged her shoulders.

Umi sighed as she applied salonpas patches over the area she just massaged. "Well, she just finished her training regime yesterday. I've covered this girl in salonpas patches in the areas where she said she felt the most pain to help her feel a little better, but knowing the recovery rate of Mizuki-san's body, she'll be in top condition by tomorrow."

Mizuki sighed with relief as she felt the patches cooling her sore muscles. "Ahhh… Thanks for these, Umi-chan… I-I think I'll be okay now."

"As long as you're okay…" Kou smiled with relief before his phone beeped to notify him of a message. Pulling the device out of his pocket, he quickly read the message before putting it back in his pocket. "Well, I've got to go see someone before the matches start. I'll be sure to meet up with you guys before the Seirin match."

The two girls both nodded at him, Umi shooing him off while Mizuki waved goodbye. "Okay, call if you can't find us."

Kou responded to Mizuki with a wink and a charming smile. "I'll always be able to find you, my princess- DOH!"

Umi's eye twitched slightly as pushed Kou away. "We get it, just go already!"

After Kou walked off, Umi turned to face Mizuki and held a hand out for her. "So what about you? Anything you need to do before the match?"

Taking her hand, Mizuki used her to pull herself up and steadying herself in case her legs gave out from pain. "I… I think I'll go find Kuroko-kun and wish him good luck. What about you, Umi-chan?"

Umi shrugged her shoulders indifferently, her eyes scanning around the area before returning her gaze to Mizuki. "I think I'll probably just stay out here for a bit before we all go in, if that's alright with you."

"Sounds good. I'll send a message when I'm ready to meet up." With that, she walked off and pulled out her phone to look at the message Kuroko sent her earlier. "Let's see… He said to meet up around here? Hmm?"

After turning at a corner, she spotted the familiar figure with light blue hair wearing a Seirin jacket. Smiling, she brought a hand up to wave at him.

"Tetsu-kun~!"

 _'Tetsu-kun'…?_

The smile on her face immediately wiped away and she brought her hand down when she spotted a beautiful girl with bright pink hair wearing a green jacket run up to Kuroko and hug him. Out of instinct, Mizuki quickly hid herself behind the corner and peeked around to watch the two of them closely.

Kuroko looked at the girl with a kind smile. "Hello, Momoi-san."

 _So that's Satsuki Momoi? Well, she certainly is pretty…_

Mizuki could now understand everything Umi warned her about. Of course he would be have feelings for someone so beautiful. The facts were obvious… That girl has an avid interest in his favorite sport, she was pretty, has a slender figure, she's not too short for her age, her breasts were large, and she's got a cute, bubbly personality. She's a nice girl…

 _Someone I have no fighting chance against…_

With those thoughts in her mind, she closed her eyes and sighed quietly while completely hiding herself behind the corner. With her back leaned against the wall, she just continued to listen to pair talk.

"Even though I like you, Tetsu-kun… I'm afraid I won't hold back this time."

"I would prefer it that way, Momoi-san."

She could hear Momoi giggle. "Let's have a good game, okay?"

Once she heard Momoi leave, Mizuki opened her eyes to stare up at the sky while placing a hand over her chest. She could feel a familiar, dull ache where her heart is. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself away from the wall and turned the corner. As she walked towards Kuroko, she waved her hand and smiled brightly to betray the pain she felt. "Kuroko-kun!"

 _Huh…?_

What was this pain she felt in her heart? She shouldn't be feeling like this in the first place. Besides, things wouldn't work out between the two of them… She was three years older than him, she was in college and he was in still high school. What guy would want a girl who's always been rejected her entire life?

 _C'mon Mizuki, you said it yourself…_

Tetsuya Kuroko is just a friend. He has feelings for a cute girl named Satsuki Momoi, so you should support his feelings like a friend should.

 _A friend…_

Yes, she was just friend to Kuroko and that's all she would ever be to him. She would not let herself get any closer than this, she will be there for him and support him through anything.

It was a harsh truth she came to terms with that day: all she would ever be to Tetsuya Kuroko is a friend. The feelings that she thought she had for him would be a secret she carried to the grave.

 _Yeah, that's all it was. It was nothing more than that._

For the last time, Mizuki was able to convince herself.

* * *

"And it's done!" Mizuki cheered happily as she placed the plate of tonkatsu on the table. Taking her seat next to Kuroko, she raised her glass high and cleared her throat. "Now then, congrats to you and Seirin for making it to the quarterfinals! Cheers!"

Kuroko also raised his glass with a smile. "Cheers."

Their glasses clinked against each other before each of them took a big sip from their glasses. She chugged her whole glass and set it down on the table with a satisfied sigh. "Phew, that hit the spot! Ah, since you're not old enough, this will have to suffice since you're not of legal age."

Kuroko chuckled a bit as he looked down at their champagne glasses full of apple juice. "Is there any particular reason we're drinking from champagne glasses?"

Swirling around the apple juice in her glass with a fond smile, she nodded her head. "Yeah, this is a tradition I have with my family… Whenever we're celebrating something, we would drink from fancier glasses. I think the last time I was with my family doing this, I had just graduated from high school… It's honestly hard to believe it's been over a year…"

"…Since graduating high school or seeing your family?" Kuroko questioned as he set his glass back down on the table.

"Both… High school went by so fast for me… Before I knew it, I graduated and was preparing to find move into this apartment. As for my family… My parents are both living in Osaka for their jobs while my younger brother is currently living with our, uh…" Mizuki put some rice in her mouth, frowning as she tried to think of the right word. "I guess you could call her our aunt, but she's not biologically related to us. But yeah, he lives with our aunt in Saitama."

After swallowing the food in his mouth, Kuroko raised a brow. "He doesn't live with your parents?"

Mizuki nodded as she got up from her chair to put more rice in Kuroko's bowl. "Yeah, my younger brother wanted to continue attending school at Teiko, so the commute is easier on him if he lives in Saitama instead. Our aunt offered to let him stay with her in Saitama so my parents wouldn't have to worry about him living on his own. At first, the plan was for him to just come live with me, but he didn't want to."

"Do you two not get along or…?" Kuroko asked as Mizuki handed him his bowl.

She chuckled and shook her head. "We do get along, but I think he didn't want to live with me because he was worried about being a burden. I always took care of him back when I still lived with my parents, so I think his decision to move to Saitama was his way of saying that I shouldn't worry about him and that he'll be fine on his own."

A small smile curved on Kuroko's lips as he stared at the happy look on Mizuki's face. "It sounds like he loves you a lot."

Mizuki just nodded before emptying the rest of the juice in her glass. "Oh, sorry for rambling on about my family… I just got so caught up talking about my little brother…"

Kuroko shook his head as he finished the rest of the food on his plate. "Don't worry about it, Kuramochi-san. I had no idea you had a younger brother, so it was interesting to hear about him."

"That's a relief… I thought you would've gotten bored hearing me ramble on about him." Realizing the two of them had finished, Mizuki got up and began to clean up the table. "Kuroko-kun, you can go ahead and rest on the couch. I'll wash these dishes first then join you later."

He shook his head and stood up, taking any dishes she didn't already have in her hands. "No, I'll help you clean. Please, let me do this to repay you."

She sighed and decided to relent, knowing how persistent he's been about helping her every time he comes over. "Okay then. I'll wash while you rinse."

When he agreed to the compromise, the two of them stood next to each other in front of the sink. Mizuki would hand Kuroko the washed dishes and he would rinse them under the running water before setting them to dry on the dish rack. Sometimes, she would peek towards him out of the corner of her eye and smile before returning her focus on washing. She couldn't help but think that him and Momoi would look good next to each other like this.

"Kuramochi-san, be careful, you're holding a-"

"Huh?" She felt something slide against her palm and heard something fall back into sink. Looking down, she saw red covering her palm and felt a painful sting. "Oh…"

Kuroko looked distraught before quickly taking her hand, using a nearby dishcloth to stop the bleeding. "Mizuki-san, you should be more careful. Do you have a first aid kit?"

Numbly, she nodded her head as she stared down at his hand tightly gripping hers. "Yeah… It's in the bathroom, in the first drawer under the sink."

"Keep holding it down and raise your arm up, okay? Go sit at the table." He quickly ran out of the kitchen to retrieve her first aid kit.

Meanwhile, Mizuki did as he instructed and held her arm up while pressing the cloth against her palm. In that moment, she felt a familiar warmth in her chest that she hadn't felt in a while. Pressing her lips together tightly, she shook her head. "…No. Stop it…"

Running back into the kitchen holding a small white metal box with a red cross on it, Kuroko quickly set the kit on the table. Sitting in the chair next to her, he held his hand out to her. "Kuramochi-san, please give me your hand."

"Okay…"

He actually didn't wait for her and took a hold of her arm before gently pulling her towards himself. Slowly, he removed the bloody cloth and took out a small bottle of antibiotic spray. A frown etched onto his face at seeing the slightly deep wound. "It's going to sting, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded as she braced herself for the inevitable pain. He sprayed the medicine and she whined while small tears forming in the corners of her eyes at the stinging pain in her palm. After cleaning the wound, he began to wrap bandages around her palm. Though he was a tad clumsy at wrapping, he managed and properly wrapped the bandages around her hand. She just stared at her hand, turning it over a couple of times. "…Thank you, Kuroko-kun."

He just sighed while putting away the medical supplies. "Please be more careful, Kuramochi-san. I worry about you, you know. Oh, let me finish the dishes. You just relax in the living room, okay?"

She nodded and walked out of the kitchen while staring at her bandaged hand. Mizuki felt speechless after witnessing Kuroko worry about her like that.

 _Did that mean anything? Did that mean he considers me as something special? A close friend? Maybe something more…?_

Mizuki quickly shook her head as she felt her chest warm up like it did earlier. She had to remind herself that she wasn't supposed to feel this way towards Kuroko. She wasn't allowed to have romantic feelings towards him anymore and would have to only think of him as just a friend from now on.

However, the feeling got hard to shake away when her eyes shifted over to him. She stared at his figure in her kitchen, washing her dishes and she couldn't help but think about how kind he is.

 _Stop, he likes someone else._

It became hard to ignore when she woke up the next day and looked at her bandaged hand, remembering how caring he was about treating her wound. She couldn't help but think that he was so admirable.

 _Stop it, he likes someone else._

That feeling surfaced again when she went out shopping, opening her wallet and catching sight of her ID card. She remembered how these hard piece of plastic were what let her meet him again.

 _Stop it, you know he likes someone else._

Just when she thought it wouldn't get harder, life just loved making this feeling even harder to forget.

Mizuki just stood and watched him from afar as he practiced his shooting with his former teammate, Daiki Aomine from Touou. After he finished that round of shooting, Momoi ran up to him and hugged him tightly with a huge smile on her face. She couldn't help but think that they looked good together like that.

 _They would make a good couple…_

Looking down at her bandaged hand, she stared at it for a while before making a fist. Closing her eyes and leaning her head up towards the sky, she brought the back of her injured hand up to cover her eyes as she smiled bitterly.

 _Since when did it become so hard to stop having feelings for someone?_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

EDIT (November 5 2015): In response to rukiruki86's question in reviews, this story is **NOT** haremxOC.

EDIT (December 30 2016): Edited to fix any errors. Added and replaced any lines that I felt needed to be fixed. Changed the beginning quote to something better. Also changed some of the scenes and added dialogue.

Fun Fact for this chapter: Yes, Kou has feelings for Mizuki. Yes, his feelings are meant to be obvious.

Okay, so this chapter ended up way longer than expected. Sorry about that. But I'm happy that I got this chapter out so I can finally start working on probably my favorite part of Mizuki and Kuroko's story. It's the part I'm looking forward to the most!

I'd also like to take some time to thank all the readers of this story! A big thanks to those that took the time to favorite, follow, and review. It makes me happy knowing that there are people enjoying my work. I'm happy I decided to go through with making this series.

If you enjoyed, follow and/or favorite the story and leave a review to let me know what you think of the series. I want to hear from my readers!

Anyway, thanks again for reading!

-Ari


	3. Devotion Chapter Three

" _If these feelings won't go away, then I need to stop running from them."_

– _Haru Yoshida (My Little Monster)_

"I'm glad that your hand has healed up." Kuroko commented while handing her a soapy glass cup. When he looked over at her, he couldn't help but think she looked cute with the small pout on curved on her lips as she took the glass from him. "Don't pout like that, Kuramochi-san. You know I'm helping you because I want to."

Even though he said that, she still continued to pout as she rinsed off the glass. "But you helped with dinner this time too! I feel like I'm being a bad host by having my guest help!"

After the two of them finished the dishes and wiped their hands dry, Kuroko smiled a bit and poked her forehead playfully. "But the two of us are more than just a house host and guest."

 _'More'…? You mean-_

"We're friends, and friends always help each other."

 _Thought so…_

Resisting the urge to smile bitterly, Mizuki opted to look at him with the best smile she could muster as she nodded her head cheerfully. "Yeah, of course!"

 _Because friends is all we'll ever be…_

In an attempt to get her mind off of those thoughts, she brought her arm up to look at her watch. "Well, it's getting late and you have your match against Kaijo tomorrow. You need to go home and rest. Have you got all your things?"

"I just need to get my bag." He responded before walking into the living room to retrieve it. After he slung the strap over his shoulder, he went to the door to put on his shoes. After tying the laces, he got up and looked at her. "I'll be going then."

She nodded and brought a hand up to wave goodbye. "Be safe and have a good night."

Turning back to the door, he placed his hand on the knob. Before he was about to turn it, he shook his head for a bit before turning around to look back at her. "Kuramochi-san?"

Confusion was written all over her face as she cocked her head to the side. "Hmm? What is it, Kuroko-kun?" She turned around to look back in the living room. "Did you forget something?"

He shook his head slowly and walked up to her, bringing up his shaking hand to her. "I can't stop shaking again… I don't know, but I can't settle down."

Mizuki stared at him for a while before she gently took a hold of his hand, his own fingers unconsciously intertwining with hers. She flashed him a kind smile and gently caressed his hand with her thumb. "You can do it, Kuroko-kun. I believe in you and Seirin… I know you'll win tomorrow, okay?" With that, she brought up her other hand and poked his cheek playfully. "Now show me that confident smile of yours, young man."

Kuroko snorted quietly before closing his eyes and flashing a big but very quick smile at her. "Like that?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, almost shocked that he actually complied with her silly request. Seeing the usual stoic Kuroko flash a smile like that, Mizuki had to resist every urge in her body to stop herself from putting her hand on his face and squishing his cheeks together. Instead, she flashed him her own bright smile and laughed. "Perfect! If you're still feeling nervous, you can always message or call me. Just makes sure it's not too late, because I want you to get a good night's sleep."

He nodded before loosening his grip on her hand and letting her small hand slip through his fingers before waving at her. "Thanks again. Good night and sweet dreams, Kuramochi-san."

"Good night and be safe, Kuroko-kun!" She continued to smile and wave until the door shut. The smile slowly left her face and her hand rested over her chest, her eyebrows furrowing together when she realized the troublesome pounding of her heart wasn't there anymore. Walking up to the door, she rest her back against the door before slowly sliding down to the floor with a sigh of relief. "I guess it's safe to say I've finally given up on my feelings for you, Kuroko-kun."

* * *

Mizuki cheered loudly, jumping out of her seat excitedly when Seirin was announced the winners of the match against Kaijo. "Umi-chan! Kou-kun! They won! They won! They _really_ won!"

Umi nodded, watching her excited friend with amusement as the players lined up to bow. "Yeah, you must be happy for them, Mizuki-san."

On the other hand, Kou quickly got up from his seat with a look of worry written all over his face. "Sorry, I've got to go see someone. I'll see you two tomorrow." With the brief farewell, he ran off and disappeared in the crowd.

The platinum blonde hummed, smirking as she watched him quickly weave his way around people to get to the exit. "Hmm, I guess that's to be expected… Well Mizuki-san, we should head out as well."

The two girls made their way out of the stadium and decided to stay by the cement steps overlooking the small court nearby. Mizuki decided to sit down on the steps while looking up at the night sky. "Hey Umi-chan, do you know why Kou-kun is coming to the games with us now? He always said he hated basketball ever since he graduated high school, but…"

Umi also looked towards the sky while shoving her hands into her pockets. "You know he doesn't hate basketball, Mizuki-san. He just hates someone who plays the sport, that's all. As to why he's been coming, well… Let's just say he's got to go comfort his boyfriend right now."

Confusion was written all over Mizuki's face before she understood the look on Umi's face. "'Boyfriend'…? Oh, you mean Kise-kun? That's cute, but I think Kikuro would be cute… Ah, that reminds me!" Digging through the pocket of her signature cardigan, Mizuki pulled out her cellphone and quickly tapped away at the screen. "Before I forget, I should congratulate Kuroko-kun!"

The younger girl had a look of disbelief on her face. Letting out an annoyed groan, Umi brought one of her hands up to her forehead as as shook her head slowly from side-to-side. "Mizuki-san, will you ever stop with the gay ships? I know you gave up on Kuroko-kun, but that doesn't mean you can just put him together with another guy… Besides, shipping two real life guys is weird, isn't it?"

After sending the message, she stuffed her phone back in her pocket and stared at Umi with a completely straight face. "There's nothing wrong with it! It's not like I'm projecting any sick or perverse fantasies over them or forcing them to get together or anything like that! It's not wrong to think that two guys would look cute together as a couple!" She argued while crossing her arms over her chest as her cheeks puffed up in a childish manner. "And stop with the gay ships? You're asking for the impossible, Umi-chan."

Umi just let out another groan, this time in disappointment. "Sometimes I wonder how I still manage to put up with you… Then again, I've been with you long enough to know you need my support through everything."

Pushing herself off the steps, Mizuki stood next to Umi and looked up at her as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Speaking of having your support… Thank you for warning me about Kuroko-kun's feelings. Since you told me about it, I've been keeping my distance from him but the two of us are still friends."

Looking down at Mizuki, a playful smile curved onto her lips as she brought a hand up behind her neck. "So you say, but the two of you have been going out together quite a lot, haven't you? Don't think I didn't see the two of you at the library together on that one weekend, Mizuki-san~"

The older girl blushed, huffing and crossing her arms over her chest as she walked ahead of Umi. "Why're you stalking me for?! He invited me to hang out that weekend, but sensei gave me papers to correct last minute, so we decided to just hang out there until I finished. I mean," Mizuki stopped and look over her shoulder to look back at Umi. "Just because he has feelings for someone else doesn't mean I can't hang out when he offers, right?"

Umi shook her head as she ran a hand through her bangs, staring at Mizuki's figure with a distant look. "Hey Mizuki… Are you really okay with how everything is now?"

Confused, she turned around on her heel with a slight glare directed at her younger friend. "Excuse me, Umi-chan, mind your manners with your elders or you'll come off as rude. Now, explain to me what you mean by that."

Pressing her lips together, the younger girl opened her mouth for a second to speak her thoughts before she closed it and shook her head slowly. "Sorry, Mizuki-san… It's nothing, forget I said anything, okay?"

She blinked a few times as she stared at her platinum blonde friend.

 _Umi usually doesn't herself slip up like that…_

Mizuki's eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. "Umi-chan, are you okay?"

Umi was silent for at least a minute before a bright and cheery smile curved on her face. "Of course I am!" With that, she walked ahead of Mizuki. "Well, how about we go get dinner at Maji? It'll be my treat."

"It should always be your treat, Takahashi-sama." Mizuki commented with her own cheerful smile as she followed after her, slowing down when she managed to catch up.

On the other hand, Umi frowned as she looked down at Mizuki out of the corner of her eye. "Oh what was that, Mizuki-chan? You didn't want me to treat you tonight?"

Like she had hoped, she managed to get a reaction out of her older best friend. Umi couldn't contain her laughter when she felt Mizuki's small fist hitting her shoulder. "Respect your elders, young lady! Correct yourself this instant!"

* * *

"Hmm?" Mizuki's phone began vibrate if her pocket. Digging through the deep pocket, she pulled it out and stared at the name on the screen with wide eyes.

Umi quickly noticed this and put down her cup of cola. "What's up?"

"Kari's coming way earlier than expected…" Mizuki responded as she began typing her reply. Stuffing her phone back in her cardigan, she began to pack her things and clean her side of the table. "Sorry I have to leave so suddenly, Umi-chan… I'll repay you for this."

The young platinum blonde just shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh forget about it, you poor uni student, I told you it was my treat anyway. Besides, you need to get the room and bed ready, right? I don't mind since it's Hikari visiting, so go ahead."

"Thanks again, I'll see you!" After throwing away her trash, Mizuki made her way out of the restaurant and hurried home.

Once she made it to her apartment building, she hurriedly climbed up the stairs only to stop when she spotted a figure in standing around the area in front of her door. Taking a couple careful steps forward, the person turned towards her and she gasped. "Eh? Kuroko-kun?"

The young boy nodded his head towards her in regard. "Good evening, Kuramochi-san."

"Y-Yeah… Good evening… " Mizuki nodded her head a bit stiffly as she walked towards him. After taking notice that he was dressed in casual clothing, she assumed he went home already.

 _So why is he here…?_

"If you don't mind me asking… What are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be at home?" She then placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly with a panicked expression on her face. "You need to be resting for your match tomorrow! It's the final match! And against Rakuzan!"

"Kuramochi-san, please let me talk." Kuroko requested calmly as his head bobbed back and forth from the motion. Realizing she was probably making him dizzy, she immediately stopped and apologized. He responded by shaking his head before continuing. "You see, I'm nervous because it's the final match. I know I should be at home resting, but I've just been restless ever since the match ended today… I didn't know what to do, so I went out for a walk but ended up coming here…"

 _But why here…? If he wanted advice in person, wouldn't it be better to go to Momoi-san? I'm sure she'd be able to help more than I could…_

The white haired girl sighed as she brought both her hands up to the sides of her head to rub her temples with her fingers. "I don't understand your thought process, Kuroko-kun… If you wanted to talk, you could've just given me a call rather than coming all the way here. I know you don't live very far from me and you're a guy, but that's no excuse! What if something bad happened to you? What if you got sick? I'd be so worried for you! I mean, I'm already worried sick for you because you're so restless right now and I don't know what to do or say to you right now to help, so-"

"Kuramochi-san!"

She flinched when he called her name. Slowly, she brought her arms back down to her sides and took a deep breath as she looked up at Kuroko with an apologetic smile. "Sorry… But honestly, I don't understand why you came all the way here if you just wanted to talk when you could've just called or messaged me… You would've gotten a quicker response rather than waiting out here for me to come home!"

Kuroko remained silent as he stared into her dark red eyes. When he saw the honest confusion in her eyes and expression, he reached to her side and took a hold of her hand. With a serious look on his face, he raised their joined hands between them. "I know you came to the match today, and I do appreciate it, but… I felt restless because I didn't see you today."

"Huh?" Feeling her chest grow warm, she pressed her lips together to suppress the stupid smile threatening to curve on her lips. "W-What? K-Kuroko-kun, I-"

"I came here because I wanted to see you today." He interjected her midsentence. Seeing the astonished look on her face, he looked away from her dejectedly. "…Is that bad?"

Her heart almost burst out of her chest and the amount of heat from her face was probably enough to melt ice at that point. After swallowing the lump that formed in her throat, she shook her head vigorously to avoid his gaze. "N-No, it's not bad at all! I… I just didn't know you wanted to see me today…"

 _And that makes me unbelievably happy…_

Mizuki didn't dare speak her thoughts at that moment unless she wanted to die from embarrassment. Hesitantly, she decided to look back into his eyes.

He had a gentle smile gracing his lips. "For some reason, being around you… It calms me down and I can relax."

 _It's the opposite for me, though… When you say kind things to me like that, I'm on the edge and I'm afraid to fall again…_

Mizuki thought as Kuroko let her hand slip out of his grip. In that instant, her hand immediately felt the chill from the cold winter weather and she craved to feel the warmth of his hand enveloping hers again. She nodded her head at him with a small smile on her face. "I see… I'm glad I can help you. So now that you've come here, do you think you can win against Rakuzan tomorrow?"

Kuroko had a determined look on his face, replacing all hesitation he seemed to have earlier. "Yes."

Getting on her toes, she brought a hand up to his head and disheveled his light blue hair. "I know you don't like me treating you like a kid, but consider this as good luck for tomorrow!"

He let out a quiet chuckle once she finished messing up his hair. Quickly running a hand through to brush it all back into place, he bowed his head at her. "Thank you, Kuramochi-san. I think I can go home now and rest now. Have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow."

Nodding, she brought a hand up to wave at him. "Yeah… Good night, Kuroko-kun. Sleep well and good luck tomorrow, I'll be cheering for you and Seirin."

After bidding their farewells, Mizuki brought her hand up to her still warm cheek and sighed.

 _Just what's going on with me? I was supposed to have given up on him, but when he says things like that…_

"Aneue… Welcome home…"

A familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Turning towards her open apartment door, she saw a tall teenage boy with messy black hair and the same dark red eyes leaning against the door. She blinked a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her before an excited smile curved on her lips. "K-Kari?! You're already here?"

The boy nodded as he brought up a hand with her spare key twirling around his finger. "I told you I was coming early… Well, it doesn't matter anyway, since I know where you hide your spare. I hope you don't mind that I just let myself in, it was just way too cold outside…" He then shivered a bit as he felt the chill. "Aneue, you should also hurry inside to warm up. I wouldn't want you to be catching a cold, after all."

Ignoring her initial surprise, she ran towards him with her arms out. "Kari! I missed you~"

The two of them crashed onto the ground and the door shut behind them while Mizuki happily nuzzled her face into his chest. The young boy just sighed as he pushed the both of them off the ground and stood up, extending his hand out for her to grab. "Aneue… It's Hikari, not Kari…"

She pouted as she took his hand, standing up as he pulled her to her feet. "But you never had a problem with that nickname before… Whoa, you're growing up too fast! How tall are you now? Oh, and it's also your last year in middle school! Have you decided on what high school to go to next year?"

"I'm 177 cm now… And yes, I'm planning to attend Rakuzan like you did… As for living conditions, I plan to move out of Momiji-san's house and move back in with mom and dad." Hikari answered nonchalantly as he walked towards his bags on the couch, digging through them. "Momiji-san got you tea leaves, but I got you snacks and also got some things from Osaka when I visited mom and dad."

At first, she didn't get what he meant by that, but her eyes began to sparkle when she saw the plastic bag full of smaller bags of Ryokujuan Shimizu konpeito he pulled out from his bags. "Kari, you're the best! Let me kiss you!"

"Aneue, no… Stop…" Despite his feeble protest, he didn't pull away as his older sister affectionately pecked numerous kisses on his cheeks. His eye twitched slightly at the feeling of stickiness from her lip-gloss on his face. "Ugh… I'm sticky now…"

"That's what she said!" Mizuki laughed at seeing the glossy light pink lip marks on his face. "Sorry, I'll get you a wet paper towel. Just wait in the living room, okay? Oh, and did you have dinner already?" She questioned as she walked into her kitchen and ripped off a paper towel. Once she was over the sink, she dampened the paper towel and squeezed away the excess water.

Hikari nodded as he sat on the couch, attempting to wipe away the gloss with the back of his hand. "Yeah, I ate before I got here so don't worry about me." He made a face as he only succeeded in spreading the gloss across his face. "But Aneue… About that guy who was outside earlier… Who is he? He seemed nice…"

A gasp escaped her lips in surprise as she reached into her fridge for a bottle of water. "Kari, you were eavesdropping?!" Mizuki exclaimed as she walked into the living room and handed him the wet paper towel.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he wiped away the sticky residue from his face with the paper towel. "I was doing it in case he did anything weird… So who is he? You don't usually talk to guys so comfortably… Oh, and please note that I will resort to being an annoying little brother if you don't answer me properly."

Mizuki snorted as she sat next to him. "You're always an annoying little brother, in case you haven't noticed. But alright, I'll tell you because I know you can get even more annoying… His name is Tetsuya Kuroko-kun. He's a friend of mine that I sometimes have over for dinner." After she unscrewed the cap, she took a long swig.

"…" After he finished wiping his face clean, he rolled up the paper towel into a ball and shot it into the small trashcan in the corner. "…Aneue, do you like him?"

"Pfft!" Water spewed from her mouth like a geyser.

"…I'll take that as a yes." Hikari mumbled as he gently pat her back to help ease her pain.

Using her cardigan sleeve to wipe away the water at her mouth, she shook her head violently. "No! Kari, I-I don't _like_ him. What on earth gave you that idea?"

The young boy looked down and placed a hand over his mouth as he began thinking. Once he came to a conclusion, he moved his hand away from his mouth and looked at her. "Well… When I opened the door after Kuroko-san left, you had a dreamy look on your face… And the smile you had… I've seen it before whenever you talked about your old crushes in middle school… No, wait…" He once again brought his hand up to his mouth in thought. "Your smile was a bit different than those times… This time, I think you looked happier."

Mizuki just stared at her younger brother as she let his words process in her mind.

 _Did I really look happy? Well, it's not like I would know…_

She scratched the back of her head. "You're probably thinking about it too much, Kari. Besides, it's better for me if I don't like him. He has feelings for this other really pretty girl who's way better of a match for him than me."

"But is that really better for you, Aneue?" Hikari questioned in a rather demanding tone as he stared right at her.

Her eyes widened and felt a shiver run down her spine. Despite being the younger of the two siblings, Hikari definitely had an aura of intimidation with his raven black hair combined with dark red eyes that would peak out through his messy bangs. Even to this day, she'd feel a cold sweat whenever he would look at her with his intense gaze.

Letting out a breath to calm her nerves, she nodded as firmly as she could manage. "Yes, I believe it is."

Less than a second after her response, Hikari took a hold of her chin and forced her to look right at him while he placed his forehead against hers. Dark red eyes meeting, one pair serious and intimidating while the other looked slightly frightened and hesitant, trying to look away.

"Aneue, look at me." Once she did, albeit hesitantly, he continued. "Listen to me carefully, okay? Stop lying to yourself and stop selling yourself short. Do you really expect me to believe that you gave up on Kuroko-san? Aneue, I've seen you fall for countless guys throughout your life, so I know what it looks like when you're completely smitten for someone… Let me tell you right now that I've never seen you be able to talk to a guy so comfortably like that."

 _Hikari, why…?_

He didn't relent even for a second. "To put it bluntly, you know you don't want to give up on him. I know you can't see it, but I sure as hell can… And so can Umi-nee and Kou-nii."

Mizuki was completely struck speechless from his words, her eyes wide at his revelation. Releasing his grip on her chin, Hikari backed away and let her look down at the floor. When she could finally form the right words, she muttered in a voice just a hair louder than a whisper. "…Were they the ones who made you bring this up?"

"…They figured I'd be the best option since I know how to handle you the best." Hikari stated as he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Looking up at Hikari, she decided to ask. "…If that's the case, then why did Umi-chan tell me about Kuroko-kun's feelings for Momoi-san?"

Returning his older sister's stare, Hikari just brought a hand up to caress the top of her head. "But did you ask Kuroko-san himself if he really has feelings for Momoi-san?"

When he posed that question, Mizuki's eyes widened a bit.

 _I didn't… I just assumed that was the case…_

"In my opinion, Umi-nee proposed that to test you… To see how you would act if there was someone else. I think Umi-nee was hoping to see you be more assertive." Hikari mused as he recalled the messages exchanged between him and Umi.

At this, Mizuki pouted a bit and rested her head against Hikari's chest. "But that's not me… I can't really change that about myself…"

He shook his head. "It's not about changing yourself, Aneue… It's about changing your approach towards your feelings and to stop expecting for the worst possible outcome. I mean," Looking down at her, he gently brushed away the bangs covering her face. "How often have you liked a guy but immediately thought, 'I have no chance with him' soon afterwards?"

As she thought about it, Hikari was right. Mizuki always lacked confidence, so she'd always assume the worst case scenario when it came to confessing her feelings.

 _I just wonder why Kari is so good with love advice when he himself has never had a relationship before_ _…_

Pushing herself away from his chest, Mizuki sat down so she was facing his direction. "Hey, Kari?"

Hikari cocked his head to the side in confusion before facing her direction completely. "W-What's up, Aneue?"

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she got closer to him. "Is there a girl you like?"

Almost immediately, Hikari's entire face turned pink as he looked away. "W-Why are you asking, Onee- I mean, Aneue?!"

Mizuki hummed in amusement at her little brother's embarrassment. "Awww, you almost called me 'Onee-chan'… Well, if I remember correctly, you've never been in a relationship before and would always reject girls whenever they confessed… So I was wondering if my dear little brother suddenly became an expert with love advice because he developed a crush on someone while I was away."

"Don't be ridiculous!" He practically screamed as he ran away from her. "I don't have a girl that I like right now!"

"Awww Kari, it's okay if you don't want to admit it!" Mizuki teased as she ran after him. Despite him being taller and being able to outrun her, the years Mizuki spent playing with Hikari made it easy for her to predict his movements. "Gotcha!"

Hikari just sighed as he felt her arms wrap around his stomach. "You got me…"

She giggled as he bent down and tucked his arms under her legs, waiting for her to wrap her arms around his neck before lifting her up in a piggyback ride. "Haha, I really miss spending time with you like this, Kari…"

Despite the fact he was running away from her earlier, he couldn't stop the smile from curving on his lips. "Yeah… Me too, Aneue."

Carrying her back to the couch they were sitting on earlier, Hikari let her down before taking a seat next to her. They spent a few moments like that in silence before Mizuki spoke up. "Say, Kari… If you were in my shoes, what would you do about this?"

Knowing that 'this' meant her feelings towards Kuroko, Hikari lied down on the couch so his head resting on top of Mizuki's lap while his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "I would forget about every single guy and just love my handsome little brother, because he would never hurt me like every other guy would!"

Mizuki stared at him with a look of disbelief before letting out a cheerful laugh while running a hand through his messy black hair to pet his head comfortingly. "Kari, you're so adorable. C'mon, I've got to prepare your bed. Since you came here early, I didn't have the time to clean it up before you got here."

With the best puppy dog eyes he could pull off, he looked up at her with a slight pout. "Can't I just sleep in the same bed as you, Aneue?"

Shaking her head, she sighed. "Kari, you're not sleeping with me- Whoa, my phone! Kari, please let go!" Prying herself out of his grip, Mizuki looked at the caller ID of her phone and hit the answer button. "Good evening, this is Mizuki Kuramochi. How may I help you, Matsuoka-sensei?"

* * *

"Aneue, you look too pretty today… I don't want you to go out looking like that." Hikari commented with a frown as he watched his older sister put a thin coat of light pink lip-gloss on her lips.

She turned towards him with a frown. "Kari, this is how I always look when I go out… Besides, I'm just going to the university to take over for a study session for Matsuoka-sensei since he couldn't come in. It's not like I'm going out on a date or something."

Hikari's lips puckered into a small pout as she picked out her outfit for the day. "But what about the match today? Weren't you going to go cheer on Kuroko-san and Seirin?"

Once Mizuki finally laid out her outfit on her bed, she waved him away. "Wait outside, I'm going to change."

He huffed and stepped out of her room before closing the door and resting his back against it. "You didn't answer me earlier, Aneue."

Inside the room, Mizuki paused for a while before pulling the light gray pullover hoodie onto her body. "My school responsibilities come first, unfortunately… While I do wish I could go to the game, I also have an obligation to Matsuoka-sensei and his students." Once she finished dressing herself, she backed up and looked at herself in the mirror with a satisfied smile. "Okay… You can come in, I'm done!"

After he opened the door and looked at her, his eyes widened and his cheeks heated up slightly. The light gray pullover hoodie was slightly baggy on her and the sleeves went slightly past her hands, the dark blue denim shorts seemed a bit off to wear for the cold season, but she made it work by wearing black stockings to cover her legs. A small frown curved on his lips as he continued to stare at her. "Aneue, please wear something else… You look too cute!"

She smiled and motioned him to lower his head so she could ruffle his already messy hair. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm sticking with this for the day."

Mizuki finished off her look today by slightly curling the ends of her hair and putting a black beanie on the top of her head to help her keep warm in the cold weather. After packing her black shoulder bag with everything she needed, she decided to add some femininity to her look by slipping on her black high-heeled boots. Plus it gave her the little height boost she needed for her short stature… "It's only 5:30… I'll just go early, I guess. Kari, I'll be heading out now. You have Kou-kun's and Umi-chan's number; so call either of them when you get to the stadium. Stay with them and let me know when you'll be heading home. I'll send you a message when I'm done, okay?

Before she could leave, Hikari took a hold of her wrist. Confused, she just cocked her head to the side since his mouth was open, but no words came out. Letting out an irritated sounding huff, he shook his head slightly before releasing his hold on her. "…Have a safe trip, Aneue."

Despite wearing three-inch heels, she still wasn't quite tall enough to reach the top of his head. He lowered his head for her so she could once again ruffle his hair. "I will. Let me know how the game goes, okay?"

Hikari nodded and waved goodbye as Mizuki walked out of the apartment. When the door closed, he let out a sigh as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, quickly dialing a number and putting the device up to his ear. "Hey, I need a favor."

* * *

"Excuse me, Kuramochi-san! I don't quite understand the what this question is asking about the passage…"

 _ **Rakuzan is leading… Things don't look good for Seirin.**_

"Hey Mizu-san, is this right? I'm not too sure about it…"

 _ **First quarter just finished. It's a tie.**_

"Mizuki-san! What does this word here mean?"

 _ **I really think you should have come, Mizuki-san… There needs to be more people here cheering for Seirin.**_

She let out a sigh of relief when she could finally sit down. It was rather tiring for her, having to go around answering all her student's questions while trying to check her phone in-between each person to check for updates about the game from Umi.

 _ **Second quarter is over with Rakuzan in the lead. 62-37**_

That was the last text Mizuki saw before she decided to keep her phone at her desk and go around the room one more time to answer any questions. Despite trying to concentrate on helping her students, her eyes couldn't help but wander to the clock on the wall to check the time.

 _The game is probably reaching the last quarter by now… I hope Seirin is doing well…_

"Uh, Mizuki-san?" Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked back at her student. "Well, your phone has been going off constantly… It's okay for you to check it before you help me."

Looking at the small device constantly vibrating and flashing on her desk, she sighed before looking at her student with an apologetic look. "You sure you don't mind?"

He shook his head and smiled. "Go ahead, it must be important."

 _Sure, if updates about a basketball game can be considered important…_

Picking up her phone, she was surprised to see that Umi was calling her. With a frown, she decided to pick up. "Hello, Umi-chan?"

" _Mizuki! I'm so sorry, I should've kept a closer eye on Hikari_ … _!"_

A cold sweat ran down the back of her neck when she heard the amount of panic in her voice. "What happened? What's wrong?! Did something happen to Kari?!"

" _Hikari, h-he just went to go get a drink in the middle of the third quarter. He didn't come back for a long time, so Kou and I went to go check up on him_ … _But by the time we found him, he was getting into a fight with some delinquents. I tried to break them up, but Hikari ended up getting hit and now he's passed out on the ground with some blood coming from his head. Kou already called the ambulance and they're on their way! But Mizuki, you need to be here for him! It might be serious! He's getting really pale! Please hu-"_

The call was abruptly cut off. Bringing her phone away from her ear, Mizuki stared down at her phone with evident panic written all over her face. Tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes and her hands visibly shaking as she placed her phone down on her desk. Resting herself against her desk, she brought both of her shaking hands up to her face to cover her tearstained eyes. This only began to rouse some concern from her students, some of them coming up to ask her if she was okay. Whenever she tried to respond, her blood went cold and she couldn't even respond to them without choking up.

"Mizuki-san!"

Looking up in the direction of the voice, she saw Kou covered in sweat and panting heavily at the door. The tears in her eyes began to stream down her cheeks as her lips trembled, trying to form her words. "K-Kou-ku…"

The tall model rushed towards her, packing all her things that lied on top of the desk before taking her hand. Turning towards all her wide eyed student, he bowed his head deeply at them. "I'll apologize on her behalf, but I need to take your T.A. to the hospital. Her younger brother is injured and right now and she's the only one that can be there for him."

No one dared oppose him. Given how panicked their T.A. was, she probably wouldn't even be able to continue if she tried. Thankfully, they all understood and decided that the study session would have to end early.

Giving one last bow to all the students, Kou quickly excused the two of them before running out of the room and sprinting down the stairs of the building. "Mizuki-san, let's hurry! I got a car so we can get there faster!"

"R-Right!" She nodded and picked up her pace. As she ran, her mind was constantly worrying about the worst-case scenario of Hikari's condition.

 _What if he got brain damage? What if he lost too much blood? What if he-_

Once they finally exited the university, Kou opened the door to the car waiting outside the school gate. "Mizuki-san, hurry!"

"R-Right!" Mizuki finally caught up to Kou and got into the car.

Kou followed suit and slammed the door behind him, buckling his seatbelt. "Nayuki-san, to Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium!"

An elder woman with raven black hair pulled back into a tight bun nodded. "I hope you know I'm gonna make you work twice as hard starting next week, Kou."

Suddenly, Mizuki felt an arm wrap around and she looked to her left to see Umi. "We fucking did it."

Immediately, she was confused before looking over at Kou. "W-Wait, the gymnasium? B-But what about Kari-"

"What about me?"

With wide eyes, Mizuki's mouth hung wide open as she saw Hikari sitting in the front seat of the car, looking over his shoulder to look at her. "K-Kari?"

* * *

"You are all complete idiots!" Mizuki was absolutely livid. "What on earth made any of you to think that lying to me about Kari getting hurt would be a _good_ idea?! I'll have you know that it's not funny or anything that can be taken lightly! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I felt like I would've gotten a heart attack! I should not be worrying about getting heart attacks at age 19!"

Umi just let out a sigh as she ran alongside Hikari, who was carrying Mizuki piggyback style so they wouldn't have to worry about keeping up with them. "Look, that was the only thing we could think of at the time to get you out of there quickly enough. Thankfully, the love you have for Hikari was enough to get this plan to work."

A sheepish smile made it's way to Hikari's lips as he blushed slightly. "I'm glad Aneue loves me so much…"

Mizuki's eye twitched in slight annoyance as her embrace around Hikari's neck tightened, a small pout on her lips as she nuzzled her head against Hikari. "…Of course I love you, Kari… You're my precious little brother. As your older sister, it's my duty to protect you."

Kou's eyes shifted over at Mizuki, a hopeful glint shining in his eyes. "Do you love me too, Mizuki-sa-ACK DAMMIT UMI!"

"Kou, shut your mouth! We're almost there!" Umi reprimanded him with a slap to the back of his head before she ran ahead to hold the door open for all of them.

Once they were in the seating area, Mizuki quickly jumped off of Hikari's back and rushed forward to look down at the court, tripping and almost falling along the way. A frown etched onto her face when she looked at the scoreboard. "…Rakuzan's leading…"

Following her, Hikari also frowned when he got a look at the players. "It's the last quarter but they're still looking strong. Seirin looks ready to drop any second now, honestly."

Kou's fists clenched at his side as he shook his head from side-to-side. "I hate to say it, but… I don't know if Seirin will manage with the entire Rakuzan team in the zone… They're really not looking so hot right now."

Umi's back rested against the wall as she shifted her eyes down towards the ground, her fist lightly hitting the wall behind her. "Dammit… Don't let things end like this! They need a comeback! Anything to turn this around!"

The silent crowd only served to emphasize the ever-growing tension on the court.

 _ **… Bump**_ _ **… Ba-bump**_ _ **…**_

Despite the despair that she felt earlier, Mizuki just closed her eyes as her head shook slowly. "I don't want you to give up now, Kuroko-kun… I'm sorry I wasn't here to watch you and support you from the beginning, but you have to make it through this…!"

 _ **Ba-bump**_ _ **… Ba-bump**_ _ **…**_

"Go for it, Kuroko! Don't give up!"

Her eyes opened and quickly darted to the direction of the voice. She couldn't see whom it was that called out to him, but she smiled at the thought that there was also someone else out there supporting him right now.

"Dammit, Tetsu! Kagami! You guys won against us, didn't you? If you can't defeat Rakuzan, I'll go after your heads!"

"The same goes for us! Go and win, Seirin!"

"Go, defeat Akashi and Rakuzan!"

Umi and Kou couldn't help but smile at hearing the familiar voices of the Generation of Miracles call out to their old teammate. Kou walked up behind Mizuki with a smile on his face as he placed a hand on top of her head. "C'mon, Mizuki-san… Go cheer on your boyfriend. It might just be the thing he needs to turn this all around."

 _ **Ba-bump.**_ _ **Ba-bump.**_ _ **Ba-bump.**_ _ **Ba-bump.**_

 _This feeling_ _…_

Her cheeks began to heat up at the familiar feeling in her chest. "He's not my boyfriend!" Mizuki argued back before looking right at the court in hopes of hiding the blush on her face from her friends.

 _It never truly went away…_

Taking a deep breath and placing both hands at the sides of her mouth, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Kuroko-kun! I believe in you and Seirin! You can do it!"

 _I still have feelings for him._

Down on the court, Kuroko's eyes widened when he spotted her. She was waving energetically with both hands at him with a huge smile on her face. At that moment, he couldn't stop himself from smiling back at her even if she couldn't see it from there.

Hikari then stood next to his older sister, also putting a hand near his mouth. "You worked hard to get this far! Don't let your efforts go to waste, Seirin!"

Following suit, Umi ran up to stand on the other side of Mizuki and yelled as loudly as she could. "Kuroko-kun! Show Akashi what it's like to lose!" The platinum blonde then turned towards Kou and smiled mischievously. "Kou, you cheer too. I'm sure you'll put your heart and _Seoul_ into it."

Kou's eye twitched in annoyance as he stood next to Hikari. "Umi, make another Korean joke with me and I swear to God, I will end you." He then took a deep breath before yelling. "Good luck, Seirin! Hwaiting!"

Umi cover her mouth and snorted. "Pft, you're so fucking Korean."

"Shut the fuck up or I'll put gochugaru in your tea and gochujang in your cake the next time you visit the shop."

* * *

"They won! They really won! Ahhh, Kari, hold me!"

"I already am…" The younger Kuramochi sibling replied as he held his older sister up by her waist when she jumped up to wrap her arms tightly around his neck.

Her two friends smiled happily at seeing her literally jump for joy at Seirin's victory. Adjusting the snapback on her head, Umi looked around and spotted the Seirin team walking off. "Speaking of the winning team… So, are you going to go congratulate your boyfriend now? Or are you gonna wait until the two of you get some alone time, if you know what I mean?"

Kou chuckled as he noticed the small blush on the older girl's face. "Mizuki-san, now's your chance to congratulate your boyfriend in person. And don't worry about what Umi said, congratulate him however you want. However, now would be a good excuse to give him the good old victory kiss."

The two of them couldn't hold in their laughter anymore as Mizuki's cheeks bloomed red. Hikari, feeling the heat of his older sister's blush against himself, just let out a sigh as he set her back down on the ground. With a small smile, he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so she faced the direction of the Seirin team. "C'mon Aneue."

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend! Huh, what? Whoa!" She stumbled a bit as Hikari pushed her in their direction. After regaining her balance, she looked back at her friends and younger brother. "But… You guys aren't coming along?"

Umi crossed her arms over her chest as she shook her head. "Nah, we've got our own things to do. Besides, Hikari will take care of you for us. Go on, your man won't wait forever."

Before Mizuki could protest anymore, Hikari took a hold of her arm and dragged her away. "Thanks for everything Umi-nee and Kou-nii~ We'll be going now~"

"W-Wait, Kari! Stop pulling me! I can't keep up with your long strides! You're too tall! Arg, curse you, damn tall people!"

Once the two siblings were gone and out of sight, the smiles wiped off both Umi and Kou's faces. Umi let out a sigh before peeking up at Kou. The taller model had his face angled down, the rim of his fedora covering his eyes. Pressing her lips together, she decided to speak. "…Assuming your words to her earlier, you're doing okay now?"

The taller boy just shook his head and one of his fists clenched tightly at his side. "Hell fucking no… It's not easy to let go of the girl you love… Especially one like her."

The platinum blonde just placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, her eyes narrowed at the ground as she cursed at herself for her insensitivity. "…Sorry, that was too soon to ask… My bad…"

"Hey, Umi…" Umi looked up to see Kou return her gaze, his ocean blue eyes looking puffed up and swollen from holding in the tears. "…Do you think I did the right thing?"

At that moment, Umi was unsure of how to respond to the question. She weighed her options; she didn't want to seem insensitive towards Kou's feelings, but at the same time she didn't want to comfort him with empty words. After a minute of silence, she gave a firm nod. "Yeah… I'm sure Mizuki-san will be happier now that you're supporting her with your all."

"That's all I care about then…" He whispered while looking in the direction where Hikari and Mizuki walked off. "… So, is it my turn to help you with your boyfriend?" Kou offered with a joking smile in an attempt to lighten the dark mood of their conversation.

Umi scoffed before punching his shoulder with enough force to make the taller boy stumble a bit. "Forget about my love life, what about yours? You just officially gave up on a girl you've been chasing for years! I'm the one helping _you_ out. Unless you and Golden Boy are already a thing?"

The thought made Kou gag as he walked away from her. "No way, never gonna happen. Not in a million years. I'd rather die then get together with that moron."

The platinum blonde just laughed as she followed after him. "Yeah, sure… You know, Kou, I think that you're the textbook definition of a 'tsundere.'"

* * *

"Kuroko-kun! Kuroko-kun! Kuroko-kun! Congratulations on winning Winter Cup!"

A small smile curved on his lips when he heard her calling his name. Turning around to face her, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised when he saw her. "H-Hello, Kuramochi-san…" He couldn't help but think that she looked rather cute today, seeing that today's outfit was different from her usual semiformal attire. At that moment, he hoped he wasn't blushing as he stared at her. "Thank you so much for cheering us on."

She smiled brightly at him. "I'm so proud of you right now! Oh yeah, you'll be celebrating with your teammates tonight, right? Well, just let me know what you want to eat and we can have a little celebration of our own some other time."

He could feel the intense stares and hear the not-so-quiet whispers coming from all of his teammates but decided to ignore them. "Actually, Kuramochi-san… We're planning to celebrate tonight at Kagami-kun's place. I was wondering if you'd like to join us."

Her heart pounded in her chest and a familiar heat emitted from her cheeks. "A-Are you sure it's okay with your teammates? I-I mean, I also have my brother to take care of so it might be a burden-"

An arm wrapped around her waist and she felt the pressure of someone's chin resting on the top of her head. "She'd love to, as long as you don't mind me tagging along with her."

"Oi, Kari! Don't go accepting offers for me!" She scolded with a frown as she pushed herself away from him.

Kuroko looked between the two of them before meeting eyes with Mizuki. "Kuramochi-san, who's this?"

Turning towards him, Mizuki's eyes shifted between Kuroko and Hikari as the two boys continued staring at each other. "Ah, him?" She asked while pointing at her tall sibling. "This is Hikari Kuramochi, my younger brother. I've told you about him before."

The black haired boy continued to stare at Kuroko for a while before closing his eyes and bowing his head respectfully. "It's nice to meet you, Kuroko-san."

"Yes, likewise, Kuramochi-kun." Kuroko also bowed his head a bit before returning his attention to Mizuki. "About the celebration, my teammates won't mind. Kagami-kun's place is large, so it isn't a bother at all. I would like it you and your brother could join us."

Mizuki swore that Kuroko almost looked like Nigou whenever the little puppy begged her for more food. Whether the puppy dog eyes were intentional or not, she gave couldn't help but give in. "F-Fine, I guess we can go if they won't mind."

"Alright, I'll go let them know." He then went back to his teammates to inform them.

Once Kuroko was a good enough distance away from the Kuramochi siblings, Mizuki looked up at Hikari with a bright smile. "Hey, Kari… You were right all along."

The younger brother looked down at his older sister with a slightly confused look. "What are you talking about, Aneue?"

She shifted her gaze towards Seirin, a happy feeling welling up in her as she watched Kuroko's teammates playfully ruffle his hair. "I really didn't want to give up on him…"

* * *

"Mizuki-san, don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them." Kagami remarked as he helped her carry the multitude of plates and bowls to the kitchen sink.

The older girl just shook her head as she rolled up the sleeves of her jacket. Once she stood in front of the sink, she turned on the water and let all the dishes soak for a bit. "It's okay, Kagami-kun. I don't mind helping out. Think of it as a thank you for all your hard work tonight."

To stop her, he held a drying rag out for her. "If you're going to be stubborn about it, I'll wash while you dry and put away."

Her lips curved into a small smile. Nodding, she took the rag from him. "Alright Kagami-kun, if you say so."

The party to celebrate Seirin's victory ended and everyone had already left, leaving Kagami, Kuroko, the Kuramochi siblings, and Alex, who knocked out from drinking too much and was now resting on Kagami's bed.

As the two of them washed dishes, Mizuki decided to spark some friendly conversation to prevent an awkward silence. "I must say, Kagami-kun… I'm impressed that you're doing so well living on your own. Do you eat out often?"

The tall red head shook his head as he handed her a cup. "I only really eat out with friends. Most of the time, I cook on my own."

"Wow, really? You're very talented for your age… I'm jealous!" She commented, playfully bumping her elbow into his arm.

Kagami just chuckled at her playful action. "Jealous of me? But Mizuki-san, the food you made today was super good. I've never even heard of some of the dishes you made, like that spicy stir-fry… Uh, what was the name?"

"Ah, the dak galbi? It's a Korean dish that one of my friends taught me how to make. I can teach you too, if you'd like!" Mizuki beamed excited as she stared up at Kagami with a look that practically begged him to let her teach him.

He seemed to brighten up at her suggestion. "That'd be great! Ah, these plates go up on a high shelf so just set them to the side and let me take care of it later."

"No, I got it! Don't underestimate me!" She quickly took the small stack of plates and carried it towards the shelf that Kagami pointed to earlier. After opening the door, she panicked a bit at seeing that it really was up high… Well, for Kagami, that wouldn't be high at all. But in the case of Mizuki Kuramochi, it was another story. With a determined nod, she stretched her arms as far as they could but it wasn't quite enough height to put the plates up. Even though she was already on her toes, she still wasn't quite tall enough to even push the stack up there.

Suddenly, she felt strong arms wrap around her stomach as Kagami lifted her off the ground. "Jeez, don't be stubborn about these kinds of things. If you need help, just say so!"

She blinked a few times as she turned her head to look down at him. "…Thank you, Kagami-kun." Once she managed to put the plates away in their proper place, he set her back on the ground and walked back to the sink to resume washing dishes. She followed suit and stood next to him, looking up at his face with a bright smile. "You know, I wish I had someone like you to help me when I'm out shopping! You could help me reach things on high shelves! Mind if I ask you to go out with me next time?"

Kagami felt heat rush to his cheeks in embarrassment before he looked away, handing her another glass. "W-Whatever! Do what you want!"

Their friendly exchange didn't go unheard by two young teens waiting at the table. Hikari felt a bit of amusement as he watched Kuroko peeking over to look at Kagami and Mizuki conversing happily while doing the dishes. The younger Kuramochi had a good idea of what thoughts were running through Kuroko's mind and decided to intervene. "Say, Kuroko-san."

Kuroko looked over at Hikari. "Yes?"

Putting a hand by his mouth so the duo in the kitchen couldn't hear him, he whispered quietly. "I'll give you a chance. You can thank me for this later."

The young boy couldn't help but smile at the innocent confusion on Kuroko's face. Hikari stood up from his seat and looked over at Mizuki. "Aneue, I got a message from some of my old friends. They said they wanted to hang out with me before I go back home, so is it okay I go see them right now?"

Kuroko's eyes widened a bit when he realized what was going on. Seeing the look on his face caused a mischievous smirk to curve on Hikari's lips.

Mizuki peeked over at him and nodded. "Sure thing, go ahead. Just be sure that you don't come back too late, that's all I ask. Oh, and be safe!"

"Of course." Before he left, he gave a two-finger salute and mouthed a 'good luck' to Kuroko before quickly leaving Kagami's apartment.

"Okay, we're all done!" Mizuki announced proudly as she wiped her hands dry. "Thank you for having us over, Kagami-kun. It was a pleasure cooking with you!"

The taller teen nodded as he looked down at Mizuki. "I didn't mind, Mizuki-san. If anything, I have to thank you for helping me cook. Oh, and we owe you one for keeping the coach out of the kitchen…"

She chuckled nervously, waving a hand up in front of herself as she recalled trying to convince the Seirin coach to get out of the kitchen before something bad happened. "It's no problem… From what Kuroko-kun told me, I wouldn't want a disaster to happen." When the two of them walked out of the kitchen, Mizuki's eyes widened when she saw who was still there. "Oh, Kuroko-kun, you haven't gone home yet?"

"Ah, well… Your brother asked me to walk you home." He honestly made that up on the spot… Kagami could tell, as he raised a brow at the excuse.

Thankfully for him, Mizuki didn't seem to notice. She sighed as her hands placed themselves at her hips. "I'm sorry Kari asked you to do that, Kuroko-kun. I'll be fine walking on my own, so you can head home."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. I live close by anyway, so I don't mind walking you home."

She pouted a bit and crossed her arms over her chest. "Kuroko-kun, no. I'd feel bad if I kept you out any longer."

Kuroko pressed his lips together as he gave it more thought. He could keep trying to push it, but he's known Mizuki long enough to know that she's stubborn when it comes to things like this. To his surprise, Kagami placed a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "It's pretty late, Mizuki-san. It'd be safer if you just let him walk you home. I mean, Hikari did ask him to stay behind for you."

He was guilt tripping her. Mizuki looked up at Kagami before looking back at Kuroko and her shoulders slouched as she gently pushed Kagami's hand away. "Alright, alright… Since you two are saying so, then fine. Are you ready to go, Kuroko-kun?"

The light blue haired teen nodded and the two of them headed to the door to put on their shoes. After they both bid farewell to Kagami, they left. When the door closed behind them, the Seirin ace let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head. "C'mon Kuroko, I thought you knew how to handle women on your own…"

"Wow Taiga, you actually did a good job wing manning! I'm proud of you!" Alex came up behind him, laughing as she wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

His eye twitched as he backed away from his basketball teacher. "Put some fucking clothes on! And why are you out of bed?! You're still drunk!"

* * *

"So you'll be performing at that coffee shop on the 21st?" Kuroko questioned as the two of them walked on the street leading to Mizuki's apartment.

She let out a breath before scratching the back of her head to casually look away from him.

 _Keep your cool, Mizuki._

"Yeah. I remember you saying that you wanted to see me do a performance, so I figured I might as well invite you. Ah, only if you're free to, that is."

Kuroko responded with a single nod of his head. "I'm free that day, so I can come. I'd love to see you."

 _Always such a smooth talker without realizing it…_

A small smile curved on her lips as her eyes met with his. "Alright. Oh, you can invite Momoi-san if you wanted to."

He stopped walking while Mizuki stopped a few steps ahead of him. Confused, she turned around to look at him only to be met with a similar look of confusion on his face. "…You know Momoi-san?"

 _Oh sugar honey iced tea…_

The smile on her face twitched at the corner and beads of sweat began running down her temple. Chuckling nervously, she brought a hand up to the back of her neck as she tried to think on her feet.

 _C'mon Mizuki, you're a university student! You're practically trained in the art of BS._

"Ah… Well… I mean, I heard about her… And she, um…"

"What about her?" Kuroko asked, genuinely curious to hear her explanation.

Mizuki felt the heat rush to her face in embarrassment when she brought up the subject of Touou's current basketball club manager. Once she managed to calm herself down, she tucked some stray hair behind her ear before responding. "Uh… Well, I uh… I kind of heard from some people that she likes you… So, I just wanted to ask you what you thought about her…?"

 _Well, more like I heard Momoi say it herself that one time I happened to eavesdrop on you two…_ _Really smooth, Mizuki…_

She couldn't believe she really asked him that. In all honesty, despite acknowledging the possibility of Kuroko have feelings for this girl, she wasn't mentally prepared to accept hearing the truth from his own mouth.

 _Might as well brace myself now…_

"Momoi-san is a good friend." He responded as he resumed walking. "The two of us have had friendly dates before in middle school, but I think she may have assumed they were more than that. However, I only see her as a friend."

 _Am I… relieved?_

Mizuki questioned herself as she followed after him. All of sudden, she no longer felt on edge. Looking at him, she could tell he was being completely honest with her. Not that he had a reason to lie to her in the first place… But this unexplained happiness she felt made her smile. "I see… So, are those friendly dates like the times you and me have hung out together?"

He paused for a bit to think before nodding his head firmly. "I would say that they're similar…"

As she continued to walk alongside him, she hummed as her hands intertwined behind back. "I see… Haha, sometimes I wonder what an actual date would be like…"

He peeked at her out of the corner of his eyes before returning his gaze on the path ahead of them. "An actual date?"

Mizuki nodded with a distant look on her face. "Yeah… You know, the romantic kind. The kind two characters in a TV drama go on, full of romance and all that. Haha, now that I think about it, Christmas Eve is coming up. Ah, I'm probably gonna be jealous of all the couples out on Christmas Eve dates." She laughed a bit dryly as the two of them walked up to the door of her apartment. "Oh well, I can always try finding a date for next year's Christmas Eve instead. Well, thanks for walking me home, Kuroko-kun. I'll see you some other time, okay?"

Digging through her bag, she pulled out her keys to unlock her door. Before her key went into the lock, Kuroko's hand lightly gripped her wrist and caused her to jump, making her keys fall to the ground. "Wait, Mizuki-san…"

Looking over at Kuroko, she felt her heart pound at seeing him lick his slightly dry lips with a serious expression on his face. "…Y-Yes?"

He avoided her gaze for a couple of seconds as he hesitated. Once he looked back at her, he took in a deep breath before letting his words smoothly fall out of his mouth.

"Would you please go on a date with me for Christmas Eve?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

EDIT (December 30 2016): HOLY FUCK THIS VERSION IS SO MUCH BETTER. Edited for any mistakes. Added and fixed certain lines that I felt needed to be improved. Added a couple scenes. Also, after this edit, the chapter is now over 10,000 words and I want to apologize for that! (I try to keep all chapters under 10,000, but I hope you all reading this after the edit don't mind!)

Fun Fact for this chapter: Hikari is a siscon.

This chapter is so damn long… It also took a long time because it underwent many scene changes and rewrites. The original chapter included some scenes that I ended up not liking too much, so I scrapped them for everything you see in this current chapter.

This chapter had me doubting myself with this story, so I really want to apologize if the quality of this chapter isn't very good. I really tried my best, so I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this.

Again, I want to thank all the readers of the story. Thanks to all the reviewers, followers, and the people who added this story to their favorites! I really appreciate every single one of you, as you are all my motivation to keep working on this story and improve my writing.

Thanks again to all of you!

-Ari


	4. Devotion Final Chapter

" _I want to pretend that I don't know, but I can't stand it anymore."_

 _–Got7 (A)_

"So let me get this straight…" Mizuki was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled closely to her chest with her eyes glued to the floor. Umi stood in front of her, eyes twitching in annoyance as her arms crossed under her chest while her foot tapped impatiently against the wooden floor of the dance studio. "You mean to tell me that Kuroko-kun asked you out on a date… And you _rejected him?!_ For fuck's sake, Mizuki-san! Why did you do that?"

She looked up and shook her hands in front of herself. "I-I didn't reject him…!"

"Umi-nee, don't be so mad… It's not that she rejected him, she just didn't give him a proper answer yet." Hikari interrupted her as he stretched his arms. "…Besides, if she wants to go on a date so badly, she can just date me…"

"Or she could date me…" Kou commented wistfully from the corner of the room as he looked over his sheet music.

The platinum blonde could only look at the two of them with an expression that was a mix of annoyance and disappointment. "Ugh! Can the two of you forget your feelings for her for _one_ second and help me out here! Mizuki-san!"

"Yes?!" She responded quickly, straightening her posture.

Umi walked over to Mizuki's bag and pulled out the girl's phone before kneeling down to the floor in front of her, violently jabbing her finger into Mizuki's forehead. "Listen to me, missy… Call him. Right now. And accept that date!"

Her cheeks puffed up a bit as she stared at the screen showing Kuroko's contact. She violently shook her head, waving her hands up in front of herself frantically. "I can't do it!"

"Oops, it's dialing." Umi said in a deadpan tone as she pressed the call button and shoved the phone into her hands before backing away.

Mizuki practically had tears in her eyes as she stared at the screen. "U-Umi-chan, why do you do this to me?!"

"… _Hello?"_

Her cheeks bloomed red when she heard his voice. With her lips pressed together tightly, she looked over at her two friends and brother. Secretly, she was hoping for one of them to come help her. Instead, she was met with the sight of the three of them with their thumbs up. "Hwaiting!"

Releasing a shaky breath, she hesitantly pulled the phone up to her ear. "H-Hello, Kuroko-kun…"

 _"Hello_ _Kuramochi-san. What can I do for you?"_

Her palm grew sweaty as she tightened the fist resting on top of her knees. Licking her dry lips, she continued. "Um, well… T-The reason I called you… I-I just wanted to say…" Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest as she struggled to say the next few words. "O-On Christmas Eve… Uh… I… I'll… g-go out… w-with you…"

"… _I'm sorry, Kuramochi-san… Everyone around me is being rather noisy, so I can't really hear you. Could you please repeat yourself?"_

Her eyes widened as she pulled her legs closer to her chest to bury her hot red face into her knees. "I-I'll… I'll see you at the coffee shop tomorrow! Goodbye!"

Once the beep signaled the end of the call, Umi buried her face in her hands and groaned from disappointment. "Mizuki-san…!"

The older girl turned towards her best friend with tears in her eye as she put her phone down next to her. "That was scary, Umi-chan! You're cruel! Evil! How could you force me to do something like that?! It makes me uncomfortable!"

Seeing the tearful look on her best friend's face, Umi couldn't help but frown knowing that she was the reason for it. "…I-I'm sorry… That was asking too much, wasn't it?"

Mizuki nodded her head, hiding her bright red cheeks in her knees. "…You seriously don't expect me to say yes so easily, right?" Standing up and looking at all of them, they could all see the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "…I do like Kuroko-kun… That alone is hard enough for me to admit… The thought of him actually _liking me_ is just something I can't believe even if he told me himself… I mean, what's so great about me anyway? Why would anyone have a reason to like me? I have no redeeming qualities, so-"

"Mizuki, shut up!"

Her eyes widened when she noticed the angry glare she was getting from Umi. "Umi-chan, what…?"

"Shut up!" She snapped in a furious tone. Once everyone was silent, the young platinum blonde took a deep breath before continuing. "…Mizuki, I hate when you degrade yourself like this… Fuck, I hate myself even more for letting you come to this point. Maybe if I wasn't a coward… Maybe if I had just stayed by your side instead of running away from everything, you wouldn't have come to this point. You know, I really hate myself for running away…"

Mizuki's lips remained parted in shock as she stood up and stared at her younger best friend. "Umi-chan…"

Umi had her hand up to her eyes as her teeth clenched together in anger, a frown etched onto her face as she continued to speak. "You're really amazing, Mizuki… Did you know that? You're an amazing person, but it fucking sucks that you don't believe any word of it just because of the asshole guys that have insulted you to the point that you actually think they're saying the truth."

Feeling a small amount of heat rise to her cheeks, Mizuki looked away as she shook her head in denial. "U-Umi-chan, what're you saying? D-Don't you think that's kind of a stretch? I-I'm really not all those things you're saying…"

"But you are."

A gasp escaped her lips as Kou came up to her and wrapped his arms around her as he held her in a comforting hug. "Kou-kun…?"

He also wore a frown on his face and his eyes closed tightly as he held her small body against his in a tight embrace. "…Mizuki, I'm saying this to you because you need to hear it… Keep in mind; I'm not saying this to you as your friend… I'm saying this as a person who's been head over heels in love with you for the past couple years of my life." He paused for a second to slowly release his grip on her and back away so they could stare into each other's eyes. "Please, hear me out, okay?"

As if her voice wasn't working at that moment, Mizuki could only nod her head slowly in response.

Kou's hand trailed to a stray strand of her long white hair and tucked it gently behind her ear as he spoke in a calm and soothing tone. "You are an amazing young woman and you deserve to be happy. Umi and I hate seeing you put yourself down like this… Heck, Hikari hates it even more than we do considering he's had to live with it much longer than either of us… We love you so much because we want our love to make up for all the pain you've suffered over the years of rejection." He paused for moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Now that I think about it… Did I ever tell you about the day I fell in love with you?"

"No…" Mizuki mumbled quietly as she shook her head slowly.

A pained smile curved on his lips as he recalled the story. "Do you remember your second year at Teiko? The day you confessed to Ebihara?"

* * *

"There's no way I'd ever date you."

The rejection was harsh.

"You don't have any feminine charm at all. You don't even look old enough to be attending this school."

He jabbed at her biggest insecurities.

"…Wow, you're seriously not crying… You're used to rejections, aren't you?"

Three strikes and you're out. The other things he said before was the fuel while that last line was the flame. As his words registered in her mind, she broke.

Ebihara ran a hand through his hair. "You just look way too young. Like, maybe if you had some kind of redeeming quality like huge boobs or something, I might've considered it… But with how you are, I could never date you."

She could feel all eyes around them on her. Laughter came from guys who agreed with the things he said while harsh insults came from the girls who decided that it would be a good opportunity to take advantage of her in this state of mental turmoil.

"He's right though. She doesn't look any older than 10 years old."

"She's as flat as a board too!"

 _But those things aren't my fault… I was just born this way…_

"Why did she even bother confessing to him anyway?"

"Right? Obviously he would have rejected her! Ebihara-kun is out of her league!"

 _At least I was brave enough to try_ _…_

Despite all the cruel words, Mizuki just looked at Ebihara with a small smile gracing her lips as she bowed her head towards him. "Thank you for hearing me out, Ebihara-kun. I'll be going now, so have a good day."

Turning on her heel, she walked away from him with her head raised and a small smile on her lips.

"Wow, she's really not crying… She really is used to rejections if she can smile like that."

"Who the heck would date her, anyway? Ebihara was just being honest with her. I mean, no one in this school would want to date her anyway."

"She's honestly really ugly… I don't blame him for rejecting her like that."

 _People can be so cruel_ _…_

She couldn't help but think that as she heard the things everyone said about her. Only until she walked into the student council room and shut the door behind her did the whispers of her peers cease. She could finally breathe…

"Mizuki-senpai!"

Turning around, she was met with the sympathetic faces of her fellow student council members. Kou stepped forward and frowned, hands placed on her shoulders while looking at her with concerned cerulean blue eyes. "Are you okay? Arashi-senpai said it's okay for you to go home early if you want."

She just stared up at Kou with confusion in her dark red eyes, blinking a few times before her head titled to the side. "Why would I do that? I'm not feeling sick or anything."

Arashi walked up behind Kou before looking down at Mizuki with the kindest look in his usually sharp eyes. "Kuramochi, are you sure that you're okay? I really don't mind letting you head home now."

Nodding her head, Mizuki smiled widely as she pushed Kou's hands away and walked around them to sit at her desk. "I'm fine, Arashi-senpai. We really should get back to work so we can leave early." Picking up a stack of papers and looking through them, she turned and pointed at them. "Sato-senpai, these papers need your approval."

Despite the inhumane rejection she just experienced, the white haired girl just resumed to work on her duties as if none of it had happened. The way she was able to just smile about everything and brush off what just happened as "nothing major" gave the four other members of student council an uneasy feeling in their stomachs.

After about 20 minutes of work, Mizuki's cellphone buzzed in her bag. After checking her phone, she looked over at Arashi. "Arashi-senpai, is it okay if I step out for a bit? I want to go get a drink."

He nodded his head. "Go ahead. Don't stress too much about your work, I'll have Sato do it while you're gone."

"Hah?!" Sato jumped out of her seat before slamming her hands down on her desk as she looked at him. "A-chan, what the hell?! You may be president, but you can't force me into this bullshit!"

The student council president looked over at Sato with a harsh glare. "This is how I'm punishing you for always slacking off. Kuramochi and I always have to stay overtime to make up for it, so you have no room to talk." Once he made his side of the argument clear, he just sighed and shook his head from side to side. "Seriously, why did I have to end up with such an unreliable vice president?"

Puffing her cheeks, Sato huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest before sitting back in her seat. "Fine, but I'm only doing it for Kura-chan and not a dummy like you, A-chan."

Mizuki smiled apologetically and nodded her head towards the vice president before walking out. "I'm sorry, Sato-senpai. But don't worry about it, I'll be back soon."

No one could hide their concern for her after she left. Despite the usual strict expression Arashi had on his face, he couldn't help but let his unease show. Sato, who was usually the loud slacker of the student council, was unusually quiet as she diligently worked on Mizuki's paperwork. Even the ever emotionless and silent public relations director, Akiyama, had a small frown on his face as he looked through and organized various papers in files.

Around five minutes passed before Arashi set his pen down and looked over at Kou. "Seo, could you do us all a favor and check up on her? Just make sure she's okay…"

"Knowing her, she probably went to the roof." Sato commented knowingly, her eyes not leaving the papers she was writing on.

"Please let her knew that we're concerned for her wellbeing." Akiyama stated as he put away a folder of important documents in the file cabinet.

"Understood, I'll be back." Kou nodded and thanked the three seniors before walking out of the student council room, quickly running for the stairs leading towards the rooftop. After climbing three flights of stairs, Kou finally reaching the door to the rooftop. Standing in front of the thick door for a while, Kou finally placed a hand on the doorknob.

"Hold it!"

Flinching, Kou's eyes widened and was met the dark pink eyes of Umi. Struck silent, Kou's mouth just remained agape from shock as Umi tightly gripped onto Kou's collar and looked up with fierce anger in her gaze. "Umi… What are you doing here?"

Roughly releasing Kou's collar, Umi leaned her back against the door of the rooftop and crossed her arms. "…You saw what happened earlier, didn't you? Take a wild guess as to why I'm here, stupid."

The look of confusion on Kou's face was accompanied by a shake of the head. "…I don't get it. Mind spelling it out for me?"

Placing a finger against her lips, Umi just closed her eyes and used her other hand to jab her thumb in the direction of the door she leaned against. "Stay quiet and just listen closely…"

Kou stared at Umi for a while before looking back at the door. Placing an ear against it and staying quiet, Kou listened closely like Umi had instructed. Cerulean blue eyes widened a fraction at the sounds.

Crying. There was someone crying. The door muffled the loud screams, but one didn't have to be a genius to distinguish the pain and despair behind each of them. To think that this pain and despair that came from a person who was smiling like nothing bad had happened. "Mizuki-senpai…?! Umi, what-"

"Mizuki's strong, you know…" Umi interrupted. Looking down at Kou's bewildered expression, she continued. "She hates the thought of people seeing her cry, so she became good at hiding her pain. She only lets it out when she's alone, or thinks she's alone… That's why she didn't break down crying in front of him. She's been holding it in all this time, but she's come to her limit and couldn't hold it back anymore."

Tears slowly gathered in the corner of Kou's eyes, head shaking from side-to-side slowly in disbelief. "Why…? Why does she hold her pain in like that? Something like that can't be good for herself!"

Umi's eyes just closed as she continued to listen to the agonizing cries of her best friend. "It's just her way of coping…"

* * *

Mizuki stared at Kou with wide eyes once he finished telling his story. "…You were there?"

He nodded his head. "I was… Ever since we became friends, that was the first time I've ever witnessed you cry. Umi always said you were strong, but I didn't truly believe those words until that day. Seeing the one girl I thought would never let herself fall apart just broke right before me and I couldn't comprehend it…"

She shook her head a bit. "Kou-kun, I…"

"I believe that was the day I unknowingly fell in love with you." He interjected. In spite of his usual composed self, Kou's cheeks were tinted a light shade of red before he continued. "I hated the thought of you being unhappy… I hated the thought of you crying over someone like that… Without realizing it, I changed myself… I dedicated myself to become someone who would make you happy. You're the reason I am who I am right now, Mizuki. I dedicated myself to become _your_ happiness."

Mizuki didn't know how to react to his confession. She knew Kou was in love with her, but she always thought it was just a friendly love like Umi's…

 _I didn't think it was to this extent…_

Immediately, she felt regret for not taking his feelings for her seriously for all these years. "K-Kou-kun… I-I'm sorry, I-"

Kou brought up a finger to her mouth to silence her. He stared at her with a warm kindness in his eyes. "It's okay, Mizuki… I kind of knew for a while now that I can't be the one that makes you happy. I know you can't return my feelings, and I'm okay with that… I just want you to know that I'll be okay as long as you're happy, even if it's not with me." Taking his finger away from her mouth, he resumed. "Besides, I think you're happiest when you're with Kuroko."

Her brows furrowed together. "…What makes you say that, Kou-kun?"

A kind smile curved on his lips as he placed a hand on her cheek while his thumb gently ran over her soft skin. "He brings out your most beautiful smiles."

* * *

"W-Whoa…!" In the middle of a turn, Mizuki brought a hand up to her head as she stumbled over her feet.

"Aneue!" Hikari quickly caught her before she landed on the ground. He slowly let her lay on the ground and used his arm to support her back. "Are you okay? What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"

After seeing Mizuki fall, Kou turned towards Umi and made an x shape with his arms. "Umi, cut the music!"

Once the audio was stopped, Umi quickly ran towards Mizuki with her bag in tow while the two boys held her up. All of their faces concern written all over them.

Her eyes clenched together tightly before she slowly opened them, her vision slightly blurry before it slowly began to clear up. After blinking a couple of times, she shook her head gently as if to shake away the dizziness. "S-Sorry guys… I just felt… A-A bit dizzy, that's all…"

"Mizuki-san, here." Umi jumped onto the stage, handing Mizuki her water bottle.

Hikari stared at his older sister as she finished gulping down the contents of her bottle. In order to quell the suspicion in his mind, he decided to ask. "…Aneue, have you been taking your medication?"

Handing her bottle back to Umi, Mizuki looked up at him and nodded her head gently. "Of course I have. Kari, don't worry, I'm fine… J-Just give me a few while to relax and we can try again, okay?"

Both Umi and Kou looked at her for a while before looking at each other, shrugging their shoulders as they both silently agreed to her request. "Alright, well Kou and I are going to head into the back to get up some drinks and snacks."

Kou stuffed in hands in his pockets before opening the door for Umi as she walked into the back kitchen. "Rest up in the meantime, Mizuki-san. Hikari, make sure she doesn't do anything reckless."

He nodded in response as he brought one hand up in a salute. "Roger. Aneue, let's go sit at a table."

While Hikari led her to a table, Mizuki looked at Kou with a joking smile. "That's hilarious, coming from the most reckless guy I've ever met."

Kou returned the joking smile by sticking his tongue out playfully before the door closed behind him.

Once the two siblings were sitting at a table, the look of concern returned to Hikari's face. "Aneue, don't lie to me." His eyes narrowed a bit. "I've seen it… You haven't-"

"Hikari, stop!" Her sudden outburst made him flinch. Her expression was hardened from anger, but it slowly softened when she saw the slight fear on her younger brother's face. "…Please… I already know. But I don't want this to go on anymore."

His fists tightened as his teeth clenched together, his furrowed brow clearly showing his worry. "But… You know things will get better if you just keep at it…!"

With closed eyes, she shook her head slowly. "…The medication doesn't work like it used to, Hikari…"

Abruptly standing up from his seat, his hands slammed hard against the table. "Aneue, why?!"

Mizuki just stared at him. She knew how angry he was having to hear this all from her. Calmly, she placed a hand over his while looking into his eyes. "Hikari, think about it… Why do you think mom and dad dedicate most of their time to work nowadays?"

After she said that, his eyes slowly widened when the realization dawned on him. His entire body began trembling, his knees giving out beneath him as he slowly sunk back into the chair beneath him. Biting his lower lip, he glared at her as his hands tightened into fists. "You've gotta be kidding me… You're telling me that mom and dad just accepted your decision?! And you decided on this shit without me?! You're basically telling me that I can't do anything to change your mind?!"

His sister just silently stared back at him, her eyes telling him the answer she refused to say. Once he got the message, he let out a frustrated sigh as he got up from his chair and walked away from her. Concerned, she hesitantly called out to him and tried to reach out to him. "Kari, I-"

She immediately shut her mouth and her hand retreated back when Hikari turned to glare at her. "…Give me a while to register all this, Mizuki. That's all I ask of you right now…"

Pressing her lips together, she looked down at the table her hands rested on and sighed. "Okay, come back when you're ready."

Right after Hikari left the shop, Umi and Kou returned from the back with drinks and two bowls full of fruit. "We're back. Hashimoto-san cut up some fruit for us, so- Wait, where's Hikari?"

"Oh, Kari wanted to get some fresh air before we get back to practice. He said he'll be back in a few minutes." Mizuki reported, thanking Umi as the girl handed her a drink.

Umi hummed as sat down next to Mizuki, chewing idly on a sliced apple. "Well, as long as he's okay. So how're you feeling now, Mizuki-san?"

Nodding, she ran a hand through her bangs to brush them away from her forehead. "I'm feeling better now. When Hikari comes back and has something to eat, we can resume- Ah! Hey!"

Kou laughed as he ruffled the top of Mizuki's head playfully. "Good to know you're back to your usual self, princess. Don't scare us like that, alright? You almost gave Umi a heart atta-ACK!"

The platinum blonde just glared at Kou after she roughly punched his gut. "She doesn't need to know that, she already knows." Looking back at Mizuki, she gave a small concerned smile. "Don't worry me like that, okay?"

Returning the smile, she nodded her head. "Okay."

After Hikari came back from his walk, he sat down with his sister and her friends to snack on a few pieces of fruit. Once they were done, Mizuki got up from her seat and walked towards the stage. "Alright, let's get back to it! Umi-chan, sound check please."

Umi snorted before following after her. "Yes ma'am."

Kou was about to follow after them only to feel a tug on the back of his shirt. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Hikari was the culprit. "Hikari? What's up?"

Hikari's dark red eyes were glued to the floor for a while before he met Kou's cerulean blue eyes. "After tonight… There's something I want to talk to you about. It's kind of important."

* * *

 _How on earth did it come to this?!_

Mizuki's face was on fire as she walked beside Kuroko. After the younger teen had asked her out on a date, she had avoided seeing him at all costs. But now here he was, walking her home thanks to two certain friends and one younger brother ditching her and forcing her to walk home with him. Since she has yet to give him an answer, Mizuki had a hard time being able to relax and was notably stiff around him.

Noticing that her gaze remained glued to the snow covered concrete, Kuroko decided to ask out of concern. "Kuramochi-san, are you okay?"

Her head perked up as she continued to avoid looking him in the eye. "Ah, um… Y-Yeah, I'm okay…"

 _…Not. I'm not okay at all. My heart's racing like crazy and I don't know what to do to make it stop…!_

Kuroko frowned a bit as he noticed that she avoided his gaze. Once the two of them arrived in front of the door to Mizuki's apartment, they just stood there in complete silence for a few minutes before a quiet sigh escaped his lips. "…Kuramochi-san, if you want to say no, I'll understand."

"Eh?" Unknowingly, she finally looked at him for a second and couldn't help but instantly feel regret at seeing the dejected look on his face coupled with the slump of his shoulders. "U-Um, I… I-It's just…"

 _Why can't I just say it? I know I like him, so why am I still hesitating?!_

Shaking his head, he looked with her with a sorrowful expression. "Kuramochi-san, it's fine. I shouldn't have asked you… That's the whole reason you're so nervous around me now, isn't it? You're scared of hurting my feelings, right?"

 _No, that's not it at all! Don't misunderstand me, please! I want to accept!_

That was when he gave her an agonized smile that made her heart throb painfully in her chest. "It's fine. No hard feelings, okay?" With that, he turned around so his back faced her before walking away. "Good night, Kuramochi-san."

 _"You shouldn't give up, Kuramochi-san. Or rather,_ don't _give up."_

When those words echoed in her head, she threw away all her hesitation. "Wait, Kuroko-kun!" Before he was out of arms reach, she quickly took a hold of the back of his jacket and used the leverage to pull herself towards him, the force caused her small figure crashed into his back. Both of her hands gripped the back of his jacket tightly as she buried her face into the cold fabric. "…I will."

Kuroko looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes slightly wide at her muffled words. "…Come again?"

Mizuki's face burned brightly as she pulled away from Kuroko, allowing him to turn around completely so she could look at him right in the eye with all the determination she could muster. "I will!" Her lips pressed together nervously as she swallowed the small lump that formed in her throat before she could form the right words. "…I'll go out with you on Christmas Eve."

Once the words processed in his mind, a content smile curved onto his lips and Mizuki forgot how to breathe at that moment. "Okay, then I'll see you on Christmas Eve. I'll come pick you up from your place at 11."

At that moment, Mizuki could only manage an awkward nod in response.

With a quiet chuckle, Kuroko waved farewell before he left. "I'll see you another time then, Kuramochi-san. Have a good night."

She returned the wave with her own, an embarrassed smile curving on her lips as he left. Once he was out of sight, Mizuki slowly buried her steaming hot face into her cold hands. "Did that really just happen? Am I dreaming?"

"Mizuki-san! Congrats!"

Her head shot up from her hands. Turning to the direction of the voice, she was met with the smug grins of her two friends and the pouty face of her younger brother, all of them standing in the doorway of her apartment. Umi was clapping with the biggest smile on her face. "I feel like a proud mother. The day has finally come!"

Kou snorted. "Umi, that's weird since you're like three years younger than her." He then brought up his hands to also clap. "That aside, I'm happy for you, Mizuki-san. I knew you could do it."

Hikari, on the other hand, pouted cutely as he crossed his arms in a stubborn manner. "Hmph… Still, I'm the one Aneue loves the most."

Staring dumbfounded at the three of them, Mizuki once again buried her face in her hands, but groaned in annoyance this time. "Is this where you guys went to ditch me? God, how do I not hate you all yet?"

With a confident smile, Umi walked next to Mizuki and wrapped an arm around her shoulder to lead her back into her apartment. "Now, now, now… Don't get so angry with us, Mizuki-san. It's not like we planned this, it was just a coincidence that we got back here before this happened."

At that statement, Hikari's head tilted to the side as he closed the door behind them. "Eh? But Umi-nee was the one who suggested we come here before Aneue got home-"

"Hikari, kindly shut the fuck up."

* * *

Mizuki rolled over in her bed and grumbled as she reached for her phone. The device was vibrating loudly against the surface of her nightstand and only silenced when she answered it. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up, she yawned loudly into the receiver. "Hello…?"

" _Miiizuuukiii-saaan~ Open up! We need to get you all did up for your date! Oop wait, never mind, Kou picked your lock and we're in. We'll see you in a bit, bye~"_

Before she could even hang up, her bedroom door slammed open and she was met with the cheerful expression of her two friends. Umi walked right in like she owned the place. "Rise and shine, my darling!"

Kou respectfully bowed before entering her room. "Good morning and merry Christmas Eve to you, Mizuki-san!"

Yawning loudly into her hand, she just stared as Kou set down his two big train cases on her desk while Umi dug through her closet. She stared at the two of them with a tired expression as she pushed her blankets off of her body. "Why on earth are you here this early? It should be against the law to be up this early on a Friday…"

"To help you get ready, of course! Your date is in two hours and we need as much prep time as possible! Hurry, go shower and brush your teeth." Umi sang happily as she pulled out one of Mizuki's dresses, turning the article of clothing over a few times before nodding firmly. "This is cute… Kou, can you cater her makeup to this dress?"

Taking one look at the dress, he nodded with a satisfied smile and two thumbs up. "Definitely. Nice pick, Umi."

After taking a much needed warm shower to help her wake up and brushing away her morning breath, Mizuki changed into the dress Umi shoved into her hands. Looking down at the outfit on herself, she couldn't help but blush as she hesitantly walked back into her room. "U-Umi-chan, c-can I have a jacket to put over this or something?"

The platinum blonde sighed with slight annoyance. "Aww c'mon, there's no need for a ja-" She was cut off once she saw Mizuki and gave a low whistle, crossing her arms over her chest. "Damn Mizuki-san… No wonder you always wore baggy shirts and jackets… Puberty has definitely been kind to you."

"Hmm? Umi, what's…" Kou's eyes widened and he placed a hand on his hip as he got a good look at Mizuki. "…Damn, I know girls in the industry who would kill for a chest like that… What's your size, Mizuki-san?"

Heat rushed to her face as she looked away, her arms covering her chest to best of her ability. "I-I'm a D cup… B-But anyway, can I please have a jacket?! I need to cover myself! I feel indecent!"

Smiling mischievously, Umi just placed an arm on Mizuki's shoulders as she led her to sit on a chair. "Oh come now, you'll be fine~ It's not like you're even showing any cleavage! You're completely covered anyway! Kou, makeup! I'll take care of her hair."

Kou nodded firmly as he opened one of his train cases and tying his brush belt around his waist. "Leave it to me. Mizuki-san, close your eyes."

Pouting, she did as instructed as Kou smoothed the eyeshadow primer over her eyelids. "…Is this all really necessary? Don't you think this is all a little too much?"

While brushing though Mizuki's long white hair, Umi nodded. "Oh, just kindly shut the fuck up and wait until we're done, okay?"

Mizuki frowned. "You know, just because you add 'kindly' to a sentence doesn't make it polite if you swear like a sailor…" However, despite her few complaints during the process, the older girl just let them have their way and complied whenever they asked her to do something.

After what felt like forever, the two of them were finally done. The duo backed up to look examine their work before giving each other satisfied smiles with a high-five. "Nice job with the makeup, Kou."

He nodded with approval. "Thanks. Good choice with her hair and outfit. She looks perfect, even more so than usual."

"Um, I appreciate all your nice words, but I have no clue what I look like right now…" Mizuki commented with a hesitant look on her face.

They both just smiled at her before walking up to her. Each of them took a hold of one of her hands as they lead her to the full length mirror she had hanging on her wall. Once she looked at herself, her eyes widened as she stared at the image reflected back at her. Her makeup was very simple and understated, but thanks to Kou's industry level makeup skills, she looked like a model from the front cover of a magazine. Umi had her dressed in a mock two-piece dress; the ruffled top was light pink with long sleeves adorned with two small black bows at the end and a simple A-line black pleated skirt. Her usual long white hair was curled slightly at the ends and held up by a black bow in a half updo while her bangs softly framed her face. Taking a step towards the mirror, her hands went to her face as a small blush adorned her cheeks. "…Is this really me…?"

Kou nodded proudly. "Yep, that's all you. Mizuki-san, the two of us see you as the most beautiful woman in the world. Today, we wanted you to see what we see. Think of it as part one of your Christmas present from us, okay?"

Walking behind her and placing her hands on her shoulders, Umi planted a soft kiss on the side of Mizuki's head. "We love you so much, Mizuki-san. I hope we were able to start your perfect day off with a good note. We want you to feel good about yourself from the moment you step out of your room."

Even though the two of them would annoy her at time with their silly antics, it was moments like this where she would remember how blessed she was to have two amazing people like them in her life.

A wide smile slowly curved on her lips along with a small blush decorating her cheeks as she looked up at her two friends. "…Thanks so much, Umi and Kou."

There was a small pause as the two of them looked at each other then back at Mizuki. Kou decided to be the one to ask. "Can… Can you repeat yourself, Mizuki-san?"

Her blush intensified as she avoided their gazes and nervously scratched the back of her neck as she hesitated to repeat herself. "T-Thanks… Umi and Kou…"

"MIZUKI~!" Without warning, the platinum blonde tackled Mizuki into a tight hug as tears streamed down her face comically. "The day finally came, Kou! Please tell me I'm not dreaming! This better be real life or I swear to God, I will jump off a building!"

He had a small tear escape his eye before he quickly wiped it away. "C'mon Umi, don't joke about things like that." Kou then shot Mizuki probably one of the happiest smiles she's ever seen on his face. "Well, we're glad you've finally come around, Mizuki."

A small smile curved on her lips as she placed a hand on one of Umi's arms. "…Yeah. Sorry for taking so long."

* * *

"Huh? Kuramochi-san?" Kuroko questioned as he looked around while trying to spot the older white haired girl. He sighed quietly when he realized she may have lost him in the large crowd of people walking around the mall. At that moment, he decided walk away from the large crowd and sit at a bench so he could call her.

"Hoi!"

Something cold made contact with his cheeks and he flinched in shock. Turning around quickly, he spotted Mizuki who pulled her cold hands away from his cheeks. "Kuramochi-san…!"

She just gave him a playful smile before sitting next to him. "We got separated back there, but then I spotted you trying to get away from the crowd, so I followed after you."

His eyes widened a bit. "You… saw me?"

Nodding enthusiastically, she had a small smile on her face. "Of course I did! The two of us have spent enough time with each other that I can sometimes spot you in crowds. Plus I wanted to turn the tables this time and surprise you instead of vice versa, so did it work?" She then winked at him playfully. "Was I able to replicate the weak presence of the phantom sixth man and turn his own strength against him?"

He stared at her for a while before shaking his head slightly at her silly antics. Just thinking that she spotted him within the large crowd brought a small smile to his face. "Yes, it worked. But Kuramochi-san," He then looked down at her hands while bringing a hand up to feel his own cheek. Like he had suspected, it was cold where her touch once was. "Your hands were very cold… Are you okay?"

Nervously, Mizuki cupped her hands near her mouth to blow warm air into them. "Ah, well… I admit that I'm a bit cold… I know the dress is a long sleeve, but it's rather thin for the temperature today…"

Kuroko didn't even hesitate as he began unbuttoning his light gray double-breasted jacket. "If that's the case, you should've said something earlier."

When Mizuki realized what he was trying to do, she quickly tried to stop him. "I-I'm fine! Please, don't worry about me-" She was cut off when placed his jacket over her shoulders. Her blush intensified when she realized that the warmth from the jacket was technically Kuroko's body heat. "T-Thank you, Kuroko-kun…"

"You're welcome. Now, shall we continue window-shopping?" He offered as he got up from the bench.

Mizuki couldn't hide her red cheeks and cheerful smile from him as she nodded, walking alongside him so she wouldn't lose him again. He complied with all her requests and let her go into all the shops she wanted to see without a single complaint, something that surprised her since she had dragged him to at least ten different stores.

After the two left the accessory shop, she had a tiny pout on her face. "I wish I had enough money for that bracelet… It looked really cute…" She commented before looking up at Kuroko. "By the way… You know you haven't complained once about me dragging you around, right? Don't you have any stores you wanted to look at?"

He just shook his head. "I'm fine, Kuramochi-san. Whenever we went out, you always let me go where I wanted to go. For today, let me do the same for you."

She just chuckled as she recalled their past outings. "Yeah, because all you ever want to go to are libraries and bookstores…" As she looked around, a store caught her eye and it caused a playful smile to curve on her lips. With the most innocent look she could give, she pointed at the store. "Hey Kuroko-kun, can we look around in there? I want a guy's opinion on some things…"

Once he saw the store, Mizuki couldn't help but burst into a giggling fit as his face turned bright red at the sight of the lingerie shop. "K-Kuramochi-san?"

Her giggles subsided and she waved her hand jokingly. "Hehe I'm just kidding, Kuroko-kun. I'm done looking around the mall, so how about we go get something to eat after I use the bathroom?"

"Okay. I'll wait for you by the Christmas tree." Kuroko said while pointing to the large Christmas tree in the middle of the mall.

After finishing her business and checking her appearance in the bathroom, she went to the large Christmas tree to meet up with Kuroko. However, when she looked around, she couldn't find him. "Hmm? Where is he?"

"Huh? Kuramochi?"

Hearing her name, Mizuki flinched when she realized the voice calling her name was of Takumi Kurosawa, the guy who she never thought she'd have to see again after he had decided to reject her without a word. Deciding to be nice, she nodded her head at him but her smile was full of hesitation. "Hello, Kurosawa-senpai. Are you here on a date with Kotomi-san?"

He snorted at hearing her name. "Kotomi? Heh, yeah right… She cheated on me about a month ago."

At that, her eyes widened and looked apologetic. Regardless of who a person is, no one deserved to be cheated on. "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. I apologize for bringing it up…"

Takumi closed his dark orange eyes as he shook his head. "Nah, don't stress it… You didn't know. But, I must say," His eyes opened as he looked right at her, his eyes looking over her entire figure in a rather condescending manner. "You look really nice today."

She blushed slightly at his compliment. "O-Oh, thank you…"

He smirked confidently, talking a few steps towards her until he was standing right in front of her. "Say, didn't you confess to me back in summer?"

… _You're really bringing that up now?_

Mizuki couldn't help but think that bitterly. While the hostility didn't show on her face, she certainly didn't have a pleasant smile on her features. "…I did."

That was when Takumi had the nerve to bring a hand to her chin to force her to look up at him. "How about I accept your feelings right now and we go on a date? C'mon, let's go have some fu-"

Takumi was cut off when a hand from behind Mizuki pushed Takumi away from her. Mizuki looked behind her and her eyes widened. "Kuroko-kun…?"

"Kuramochi-san, let's go." After taking her hand in his, he took her away and left Takumi feeling dumbfounded about what just happened. After they were a good distance away, she let out a sigh of relief while Kuroko smiled, knowing he did the right thing. "Are you okay? You looked like you were in trouble earlier…"

Looking up at him, she nodded energetically. "Yeah. Thank you for getting me out of that, Kuroko-kun." She then had a look of concern written on her face. "But honestly, where were you? Didn't you say that you'd be waiting at the tree?"

At that moment, his lips curved into a small smile but it was hidden as he pulled his scarf over the lower half of his face. "I was there from the start."

She frowned slightly, sulking in a childish manner. "Aww… Just when I thought I was getting better at noticing you…"

Kuroko couldn't help but smile at her actions and the fact that she didn't notice their joined hands. When he pointed it out to her, she blushed furiously and quickly let go of his hand.

* * *

Today was going great after the encounter with Takumi. After Kuroko and Mizuki left the mall, they decided to eat at Maji. The two of them thought that it would be interesting for them to eat at the restaurant the two of them met at since that was the last time they ate there.

"Kuroko-kun, do you ever get tired of vanilla shakes? From what Kagami-kun told me, you order that every time you come here." Mizuki commented before taking a sip of her chocolate shake.

After taking a sip of his shake, he pulled the cup away from his face as he looked down at it. "Not really, it's my favorite food."

Mizuki chuckled a bit. "Kuroko-kun, a vanilla shake isn't food." She then looked down at her chocolate shake. "Hmm… I dunno, I always preferred chocolate."

Holding his cup towards to her, he offered. "You can try some if you'd like."

Bending the straw towards herself, she leaned forward to take a small sip. There was a smile on her face as she licked between her lips. "Mm… It's pretty good. It's sweet, but more subtle compared to chocolate." When she looked back at Kuroko, she couldn't help but raise a brow curiously at him. "…Okay, I'll bite… What is it?"

He smiled before resting his elbow on the table as his head rested against his hand. With a single finger, he tapped his lips. "Indirect kiss."

Mizuki blinked a couple of times at his statement. When the realization hit her, she buried her burning red face into her hands in embarrassment. "D-Did you really have to point that out?!"

"Then let me make it fair." Kuroko spoke in a casual tone as he leaned forward.

"Eh? K-Kuroko-kun…!" He didn't think it was possible for her face to turn any redder, but his assumption was quickly proven wrong when he took a sip of her chocolate shake and she could only manage to sputter out complete nonsense in response.

He pulled away while licking away the excess on his lips. "…Not bad, but I still prefer vanilla."

Her mouth remained agape as her cheeks continued to burn like fire. "Y-You… I… We… Ugh…" Mizuki could only sigh in defeat as she sunk into her seat. "…Kuroko-kun, you're so bold sometimes, it makes me question whether I'm really the older one between us…"

After finishing their drinks, Kuroko offered to take her to the nearby park. At the suggestion, she quickly agreed.

Mizuki smiled as the two of them swung back and forth on swings. "Hehe, did you know that this was my favorite place or something?"

He shook his head. "No, this is also my favorite place. These swings in particular are my favorite."

She gasped. "No way… Is it weird if I say the same thing? I have good memories of about these swings from when I was younger…"

At that moment, his eyes widened a bit as he looked over at her. "…Why's that, Kuramochi-san?"

Placing her hands to her mouth to warm them, she closed her eyes as she recalled the past event. "Hmm… Where do I start…? It's kind of a long story."

Kuroko hummed as he looked down at his phone before stuffing it back into his pocket. "Well, we have time."

Letting out a quiet giggle, she nodded her head. "Alright, well get comfortable because it may take a while. But basically, it all happened when I was in my first year at Teiko."

* * *

Mizuki ran. The moment she realized she had her feelings rejected, she just ran. Before she realized it, she was standing the middle of the practically empty park. Looking around, she spotted the empty swing and slowly made her way towards it. Setting her school bag to the side, she sat on the swing and gripped onto the slightly rusted chains with shaking hands. After a few minutes of sitting there, the reality finally hit her and she closed her eyes, the tears falling from her eyes as she let out pathetic sounding sobs.

Despite her rather loud cries, no person bothered to approach her. The few people that did pass by would just shrug it off and go on with their own lives, just letting the poor heartbroken girl cry her heart out.

"Are you okay?"

Except for one.

Letting out a surprised yelp, she almost fell off her swing if she didn't quickly grab onto the chains to regain her balance. After she was safe, she looked in the direction of the voice and noticed a young boy sitting in the swing next to her. He stared right at her with concerned blue eyes.

"Uh… I-I'm okay…" She replied back nervously.

A frown then curved on his lips. "But you were crying for a while now… People don't cry unless they're sad."

 _Just how long has this kid been sitting here?!_

Mizuki's face began to heat up from embarrassment as this young boy continued to interrogate her. "Hey, it's nothing a kid like you needs to worry about…"

At that statement, he looked a bit upset. "Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't help you. You don't look much older than me either."

She was honestly surprised that he made a pretty valid point, but frowned at his later statement. "Hey! I'm 13 years old and my school uniform isn't just for show, I'm a first year at Teiko Middle School!"

When she said that, he had a look of regret on his face before looking away from her dejectedly. "Ah, I-I'm sorry! I-I just assumed… I'm actually only 10…"

 _He's pretty mature for his age…_

A small smile then curved on her lips as she let out a chuckle. "Haha, I'm amazed though! You're pretty mature for your age, kid." Mizuki then let out a sigh before wiping away the tears from her face. "I guess there's no harm in telling you when you're just trying to help me…"

This was how she somehow ended up telling a complete stranger about how she got rejected by a guy at school, even going into details like how he rejected her because of the fact that she looked so young. She kept complaining and complaining, her rant going from her frustrations of being rejected to her frustrations of always being belittled by adults for her height and appearance. Before she realized it, she had rambled on for a long time.

"Ah…" Her face flushed a bit as she looked down at the ground. "Sorry, I went off for a long time… I'm sorry-" When she turned to look at the swing, she frowned when she realized he wasn't there anymore. Pressing her lips together, she just sighed. "I should've expected this, I guess…"

"Sorry for leaving, I'm back now."

"AHHHHH!" Once again, Mizuki almost fell out of the swing from shock, but this time, the boy was next to her and held her wrist to keep her from falling back. Once she pulled herself back up with his assistance, she glared at him. "You gotta stop surprising me like that…"

He bowed his head. "I apologize, it's just… I wanted to give you something."

At this, Mizuki cocked her head to the side from confusion. "You don't have to do that…"

He just shook his head. "I already did it, so it's too late for you to say no. Please, accept it." From behind his back, he pulled out a single white rose wrapped by a light blue floral wrap.

She wasn't sure how to react, so she just stared at the flower with wide eyes before slowly and hesitantly taking it from him. She just continued to stare at the flower, admiring how the pure white petals were complimented by the pretty light blue paper. "It's so pretty…"

"So are you."

Mizuki's face flushed bright red at his words, her eyes darting in his direction as she stared at him with wide eyes. "W-what?!"

Realizing the meaning his words had, he quickly shook his head. "I-I meant your smile. It's just…" Shyly, he looked away from her. "You finally smiled, and I just thought about something my grandmother told me…"

Curious, she decided to ask. "What did she say?"

The boy looked back at her with a small smile on his own face. "She said that flowers can make a person happy… If someone is feeling down, giving them a flower can help brighten their day and bring a smile to their face. But in the case for a girl, that kind of action can bring out her prettiest smile."

Though she wasn't blushing quite as much as earlier, the pink in her cheeks was still fairly prominent. "I-I see… You have a good grandmother." As she stared at the flower, she decided to get up from the swing. Now that the two of them were standing beside each other, Mizuki frowned a bit when she realized he was almost as tall as she was despite their age gap. "Well, the two of us should be heading home now, it's getting late."

He nodded. "Yes, but will you be okay now?"

For a moment, she looked down at the rose in her hand before looking at him with a happy smile. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Thank you for hearing me out."

* * *

"After that, we had to say goodbye. I never saw him again after that day…" Mizuki reminisced with a fond smile on her face.

Kuroko could only stare at her with wide eyes as his swing's motion slowly came to a halt.

Noticing his stare, Mizuki got up from her swing and began to wave a hand in front of his face. "Kuroko-kun? Hellooooo?"

He blinked once as if to snap out of the trance he was under. "I'm sorry… Shall we go? It's getting rather late."

Mizuki nodded, once again bringing her hands up to her mouth for warmth. "Now then, what else did you have planned for today?"

"I wanted to stop by the bakery and pick up a cake, then have dinner at your place. Is that fine?" Kuroko asked as he removed one of his cotton gloves.

She hummed happily at the thought of homemade dinner and cake. "Mmm, sounds good! Alright, let's go!" Before she could march ahead of him, Kuroko took one of her hands in his. "Hmm? Kuroko-kun?"

Without a word, he fitted his right glove onto her right hand. She blushed at feeling the warmth from the glove. "…Your hands must've been cold. You kept blowing on them whenever we were outside."

As she stared down at her now gloved hand, she couldn't help but smile at his kind action. "Thank you, Kuroko-kun… But what about your hand? Won't it get cold?"

There was a charming smile curved onto his lips as he took her left hand into his right hand. "I'll keep it warm like this."

At that point, Mizuki's face was hot enough to roast a marshmallow.

* * *

"Hehe it's good to be home~ Well then, I should get started on din… ner…" Mizuki's eyes widen when she entered her kitchen. There was a vase full of white roses and a hot pot was already in the middle of cooking on her dining table. "Kuroko-kun… What…?"

He just walked into the kitchen and placed the cake in her fridge. "I asked your friends, Seo-san and Hashitaka-san, to prepare this before we got here. They also told me your favorite flower, so I ordered a bouquet and had them set it up for this."

 _So that's why they insisted on staying here after I left… Wait, Hashitaka… Is he talking about Umi?_

She couldn't stop herself from smiling at the thought of her friends conspiring with Kuroko to plan all this for her. It was almost enough to make her cry.

"Now then," Kuroko then stood behind a chair and pulled it out. "Please have a seat, Kuramochi-san."

She didn't have hot pot in a long time since they're usually better when shared with other people, so sharing one with Kuroko today made her very happy. She couldn't say thank you enough to Kuroko for planning all of this for her and he would just keep insisting that it wasn't much. Once the two finished eating, they both insisted on doing the dishes before deciding to do them together. He jokingly told he purposely made the hot pot so that Mizuki wouldn't risk cutting herself again, making her laughed at him before she playfully bumped her hip against his.

Once they finished, Mizuki decided to set the vase of white roses on a shelf alongside all of her framed pictures before going into the living room area to rest on the couch. She looked over at Kuroko with a satisfied smile. "Today was great. Thank you for taking me on my first date…"

He nodded his head as he looked back at her, returning her kind smile. "You're welcome, Kuramochi-san. I'm glad I could take you out today."

She giggled before getting up and walking back into the kitchen. "Let me go make us some hot chocolate. Don't worry, I'll add extra vanilla to yours."

"Ah, then I'll get the cake and utensils." He offered while following her into the kitchen.

Once she finished making her homemade hot chocolate, she brought the two mugs in and set them on the table, one in front of herself and the other for Kuroko. Excitedly, she rubbed her hands together as she looked down at the cake box. "Hehe, I can't wait. Kuroko-kun. Here, hand me the knife so I can cut it for us."

He just nodded while handing her the knife and setting a plate right next to her mug. "Thank you, Kuramochi-san."

Smiling, she shook her head as she cut the tape keeping the box closed. Once she lifted up the lid and looked at the cake, the words got caught her in mouth as she stared at the dessert.

The cake was covered in white frosting with rose swirls and strawberries decorating the edges of the cake. In the middle was a thin oval shaped chocolate plaque with writing on it in white frosting. As she read the words written on the plaque, small tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes.

 _I love you, Mizuki Kuramochi._

Things were silent and still for at least three minutes. For those three minutes, she almost forgot how to breathe and Kuroko could feel the anxiety growing inside of him the longer she stayed quiet. "…S-Say something."

Blinking, she looked over to see Kuroko looking down at the cake with completely red cheeks. Mizuki took a deep breath, exhaling slowly in hopes that the heat in her cheeks would die down. "U-Um… K-Kuroko-kun, I… I-"

"Kuramochi-san…" He slowly overcame his embarrassment and looked her right in the eye. "I know it's not like me to say much, but I have a lot to say to you… Will you please hear me out?"

She tried to reply back with words, but she could only manage a single nod of her head.

Taking a breath to calm his nerves, he placed his hands on her shoulders before looking right into her eyes with a determination similar to what he has on the court. "To be honest, when I saw you in Maji that day, you reminded me a lot of a girl I met in the park six years ago. I decided to treat you the same way I treated her… I comforted you and wiped away your tears because I hated the thought that you were crying for the same reasons as her."

Mizuki just stared at him with wide eyes.

 _Six years ago…? That was when I was in my first year at Teiko._

Slowly, she put the pieces together and almost couldn't believe it. "So… Are you saying that…?"

He nodded. "When you had me over dinner, I saw the pictures of you when you were younger and I couldn't deny how much you looked like her… I was almost absolutely sure that you were the same girl, but after hearing your story today, you confirmed everything. You're the same girl I met in the park all those years ago."

Now that she thought about it, it finally explained the biggest mystery she had. The reason Kuroko's eyes looked so familiar… The reason his eyes put her at ease…

 _It's because I've met him before_ _… H_ _e's the same boy who comforted me that day_ _…_

She still couldn't believe that this was happening to her. Things like this only happen in romance novels, so maybe that's why that moment felt like so surreal. Slowly, she brought her hand up to her eyes to wipe away her tears. "H-Hold on, give me a while to process this…!"

Kuroko smiled as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. "Kuramochi-san, I'm almost done, so please look at me for a little longer."

Slowly, she brought her hands away from her face so she could look at him. The kind smile on his face made her heart race even faster in her chest.

When her eyes met his, he continued. "The fact we met again was completely by chance… But us becoming friends was a choice. Honestly, when I made the connection, I wanted things to be different." Kuroko closed his blue eyes for a moment in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart. Once he felt calm enough, he opened them again. "I wanted to stay by your side… I wanted to continue being there in your life, because I worried that the next time I saw you again, you would be crying over someone again…"

Her mouth hung open as his name left her lips in a quiet whisper. "Kuroko-kun…"

"Mizuki Kuramochi-san, I'm in love with you. I know I'm still young and I'm inexperienced when it comes to love… We'll both be clumsy and awkward as we go along, but I'm willing to go through with all that if I can be with you." He then took both of her hands into his, tightly gripping them in his own shaking ones. "I can't give you much right now… I can only promise you that I will treat you better than anyone else ever could. So, will you please give me the chance to become your boyfriend?"

Tears slowly began to fall from her eyes and became hot trails as they ran down her glowing red cheeks. "Jeez… Is this what it's like to be confessed to?" She looked up at him with her tear stained face, the disbelief still written all over her expression. "I can't believe this is really happening… Please tell me I'm not dreaming…"

Bringing his hand up to her cheek, Kuroko used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "This isn't a dream. This is all real. My feelings for you are real, Kuramochi-san, and I would like to know if you feel the same."

Despite wiping away her tears earlier, more began to fall as she struggled to smile at him. "I-I do, Kuroko-kun… I've felt the same way towards you for a while now. But I kept thinking that you wouldn't want someone like me and that you liked someone else, so I… I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't do it…" She brought her hand back up to wipe away her tears. "I couldn't give up, because I really like you and you told me to not give up."

Feeling the weight lift from his shoulders and the anxiety leave his heart, Kuroko quickly wrapped his arms around her tightly and held her close to him as he gently caressed her back while she continued to cry happy tears onto his shirt. "Don't say things like that, Kuramochi-san. You may have been rejected in the past, but none of that means anything to me. That's why I'm confessing to you… I want to be the one to love you and make you happy." He paused to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. "I love you, Kuramochi-san… Please don't cry anymore, it'd be better if you smiled right now."

He felt her head shake against him. "I can't help it but cry… I'm just so happy right now… I… I love you too, Kuroko-kun."

Once they both backed away from each other to look into each other's eyes, her hands rested on his shoulders while his rested on her lower back. They smiled mutually at each other, agreeing in their minds that it was okay. Slowly, they began closing their eyes and shortening the distance between themselves. Feeling the warmth of his lips against hers, Mizuki couldn't believe that in all her years of one-sided love, she had already met the person who would return her feelings.

* * *

"And that's how Kou and I were the best wingmen in the world by getting Mizuki and Kuroko-kun together." Umi exclaimed excitedly.

The girl with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair smiled. Her emerald green eyes shifting over to the blushing Mizuki. "Sounds like you had the best Christmas Eve date ever, Mizuki."

Embarrassed by Umi's storytelling, Mizuki buried her red face into her hands. "Please give me a break, Setsuna. I'm only letting her tell this story because you wanted to know so badly."

Setsuna giggled into her hand. "I apologize, Mizuki. But it is quite a lovely story and I feel bad that I'm didn't get to lend a helping hand in this."

Kou waved his hand absentmindedly. "Ah don't mind it too much, Miyana. The two of them have only been dating for ten months and I'm already sick of how lovey-dovey they're being. Like ever since Kuroko gave her that bracelet for Christmas, she always wears it. I swear, she won't take it off for anything!"

Mizuki pouted as she looked down at the silver charm bracelet with two charms, a white and light blue gemstone, attached to the chain. "But it's the first gift he gave to me… Sorry I want to show how much I appreciate him…"

Umi smiled mischievously as she wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Oh? Do we need to tell Setsuna the New Year's story? If not that, then how about what you did for Kuroko-kun's birthday? Or maybe even the Valentine's Day story? Or shall we talk about the White Day story?"

"Have mercy, Umi…" The oldest girl whined as she folded her arms on the dining table, burying her face into them.

Gently petting her head, Setsuna comforted her older friend. "There, there, Mizuki. Don't sulk, Kuroko-kun will be coming over soon and you know he wouldn't like seeing you upset."

Letting out a sigh, she quickly got out of her chair. The rush made her head felt a bit fuzzy, one of her hands flying to her forehead. "W-Whoa…"

This didn't go unnoticed by Umi, who quickly got up from her chair to support her best friend. "Hey, Mizuki…"

Once the dizziness faded, Mizuki shook her head and walked over to the stove. "Sorry, Umi… I'm fine. I-I should prepare the tea before he gets here."

The table vibrated from a notification on Mizuki's phone, Umi taking the device into her hands to check it. "It's Kuroko-kun. He said he's five minutes away and meaning we should get going before we bare witness to the sickening adorableness of TetsuMizu."

"What the heck, Umi? You made a ship name for us?" She questioned in disbelief, shaking her head at her friend's antics before returning her attention to the pot of boiling water before her. "Well, whatever…Thanks for coming over to catch up, Setsuna. Next time we should meet up at Umi's or Kou's place."

"My place! Kou's place is always a fucking mess…" Umi commanded with a frown as she headed to the door. "Well, I'll see you next time, Mizuki."

Kou scoffed as he put on his shoes. "Rude! It's an organized mess, thank you very much. Oh yeah, thanks for having us over, Mizuki. Have fun with Kuroko and don't get too wild."

Setsuna just sighed quietly, placing a hand on Kou's shoulder. "Kou, I'm afraid Umi has a point here and it's rude to comment things like that. Ah, until next time, Mizuki!"

"Bye guys, be safe when heading home!" Mizuki called out before the door shut, signaling that the three of them left.

Once she finished brewing the tea and set the pot aside, she yelped when an arm wrapped around her waist and felt a warm peck on her cheek. "Hello, Mizuki-san."

Placing a hand on the arm, she turned and met his lips in a quick kiss. "Do you enjoy scaring me all the time, Kuroko?"

He shook his head as he nuzzled his chin on her shoulder. "Only once in a while. Also, thank you for taking the time to help me study."

She shook his hand dismissively as she turned to face him. "Oh don't thank me, tutoring is my job for a reason. The fact that I'm helping you makes me happy."

Kuroko couldn't stop himself from planting another loving kiss on her cheek. "If you don't stop saying cute things like that, I really won't be able to focus."

A smile curved on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh? Then shall I call my friends to tutor you instead?"

"No… I only want Mizuki-san to tutor me." He pouted cutely, resting his forehead against hers.

She couldn't help but laugh at his antics, cupping his cheeks in her hands as she nuzzled her nose against his. "Alright. So what subject shall we start with?"

* * *

 _It's hard to believe it's been two years since then…_

That thought ran through Mizuki's mind as she caught sight of one of the many photos that she and Tetsuya took during their first few months of dating. A fond smile curved on her lips before her eyes continued to scan the paper she held in her hands.

As she read over the letter again, she let out an irritated sigh. With a prominent frown, she ripped it apart into tiny scraps before letting the scraps fall into the kitchen's trash bin. After wiping her hands to rid them of any small scraps that clung onto her skin, she returned her attention to pouring her homemade hot chocolate into two mugs, flavoring one with extra vanilla extract before taking the mugs and walking towards her room.

Peeking into her room, Mizuki spotted her boyfriend on their bed reading the newest book she bought for him. After opening the door, she walked over to him slowly. "Hey, I don't mind you reading before bed, but it's getting really late and you've got orientation for Todai tomorrow."

Looking up from his book, Tetsuya smiled at seeing Mizuki walk towards him with two mugs of hot chocolate in tow. After placing his custom bookmark inside his book and setting it aside, they both sat on the edge of the bed with warm mugs in hand as they both took small sips of the sweet, warm liquid. "You know I'm fine with six hours of sleep, unlike a certain someone."

Setting her empty mug to the side, she pouted at him. "I'm sorry I need more sleep to function properly, Tetsuya. Do you not like me being concerned for you?"

Also setting his empty mug aside, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and brought her down to the bed. She giggled as he affectionately showered her cheeks and forehead with small kisses. "I don't just like it, I _love_ it. I love everything about you, Mizuki-san."

Blushing slightly, Mizuki returned the embrace as her head rested against his chest. "Tetsuya, drop the honorific… We've been together for two years, so don't you think it's about time you just call me 'Mizuki' like how I just call you 'Tetsuya'?"

Stubbornly, he shook his head. "You're still older than me, Mizuki-san. Even if we are in a relationship, I still want to treat you with respect."

She couldn't help but chuckle at his reply. It was definitely something Tetsuya Kuroko would say. "Ah well… One day I want you to just call me 'Mizuki', okay?"

His embrace tightened as he blushed slightly while burying the lower half of his face into her hair. "…When we get married."

Burying her flushed face into his chest, her hands tightly gripped the back of his shirt. "T-Tetsuya! We're too young to be thinking about marriage! Y-You just got accepted to your first choice for university and we still have to graduate! I mean, I still got grad school too… And if you plan to continue with your major, you may need to think about grad school too! Just imagine our student loans! Sure, we've got some scholarships, but it's still a lot!"

He laughed at her embarrassment and kissed the top of her head before nuzzling his face against her soft hair. "Sorry. I know we're already living together now, but I want to become your family and have a family with you one day." Now it was his turn to feel embarrassed. "Before our relationship, I didn't think much about love and all that… But now, being in love with you gives me so much to look forward to for our future."

Mizuki licked her lips and her eyes wandered downwards. "I see…"

"Even though it was something that happened purely by chance, I'm glad I met you that day, Mizuki-san."

Looking up at him, they both closed their eyes and their lips met in a short but passionate kiss. Once they broke away, Mizuki moved up and hugged him so that his head rested against her shoulder. "Every meeting is by chance Tetsuya, and I'm so glad I had the chance to fall in love with you." She gently ran a hand through his hair and caressed his head lovingly. "You've made me so happy in the two years we've been together. Thank you so much for everything you've given me, Tetsuya."

Feeling his eyelids grow heavy, Tetsuya could slowly feel sleep taking over despite the fact he wasn't feeling this sleepy before she walked in. "…You're welcome… Mizuki-san…"

Her lips pressed together tightly as her embrace tightened. "Thank you for moving in with me. Thank you for working hard so you can attend Todai with me. Thank you for being my moral support ever since we met again."

He felt slightly confused at her words as he tried to fight off the sleep. "…M-Mizuki-san…?"

"…Thank you for loving me. Thank you for letting me fall in love with you. Thank you…" He could feel her hands shake slightly before she continued. "…Thank you so much, Tetsuya."

His sight was going dark and the warmth of her body left him as she placed a blanket over his body. "…Mizu-"

"Shhh…" She silenced him with a single finger pressed against his lips. He could see a small tear fall from her face as she spoke with a somewhat pained look on her face. "…Goodbye, Tetsuya. I love you."

One last thought ran through his mind before he lost consciousness and let sleep take over.

 _Don't you mean 'good night'…?_

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (December 31 2016): Edited to fix any errors. Lines and two scenes got added. Also, a somewhat important scene got added. If you read the original before this edit, I highly recommend that you go back and read this chapter for that scene. I apologize for it getting cut from the original. I didn't think the scene was too important at the time, but after reading this chapter, I decided to include the scene. Also, I want to apologize for going over 10,000 words again.

Fun Facts for this chapter:  
-Kou saying he dedicated himself to becoming Mizuki's happiness is a reference to his name. The kanji for Kou's name is the same as 'happiness'  
-Mizuki is a D cup, but a D cup in Japan is more like a C cup in the US.  
-Umi's fake name 'Hashitaka' is an anagram of her last name 'Takahashi'  
-The reason Umi and Kou reacted the way they did to Mizuki dropping the honorifics with them is because it symbolized Mizuki being ready to let people be close to her. If you noticed, Kou and Umi refer to each other without honorific but continued to refer to Mizuki with one despite being friends for a long time. Mizuki using honorifics with her friends represented how she kept her them all at a distance.

Oh boy, this chapter was difficult. Even more so than the last one.

Okay, now I understand some people may not like how I ended up making Kuroko act, but this is just my interpretation (I mean, it's called fanfiction for a reason). I feel pretty satisfied with how it is (even if it does feel a bit OOC) and I hope it's okay with all of you.

Now, some of you may have noticed that this chapter title has 'final' in it. I'm going to say this right now, **this is not the end**. If any of you read my author's notes from previous chapters, some of you may remember that I said that this story is a series of short stories. This is just the final chapter of this story.

Also, please note that I will come back and fix any mistakes or errors if I see any. (sometimes they just go unseen during the editing process)

Anyway, I want to thank all the readers, reviewers, followers, and people who have added this story to their favorites list. It means a lot to me. Please continue show your support for this story by leaving a review or following/favoriting if you're a new reader so I know if any of you liked it. Thank you all so much!

-Ari


	5. Longing Chapter One

**A quick note from the author: While it's fine to read a specific story on it's own, I highly recommend reading all the stories in order for the full experience.**

* * *

 _Having feelings for someone just brings sorrow to someone else. Someone always gets sacrificed and suffers. It's a pain no one can protect you from._

"Now then, is there anyone that would like to volunteer to be the female class representative?"

The silence in the class was thick. Nijimura stood beside his homeroom teacher, glaring at everyone that stared at him with a slight scowl on his face. There was no girl in this class, or even the entire school, that would want to be partnered with the guy who got into a huge fight on the second day of school.

Why was he even the male class representative in the first place? Well, Sakamoto had given Nijimura a choice for his punishment. Either get expelled from school or become the male class representative for the year. It's obvious which one he had to choose if he didn't want his mother to chew him out.

"…Anyone? If no one volunteers, we'll have to pick someone at random." Sakamoto threatened as he looked over the class. Every girl in that class had a fearful look, but not one of them had the courage to raise her hand.

Nijimura just let out a quiet sigh as he closed his eyes. In all honesty, he could care less about the patronizing stares or insulting whispers from his classmates. He already knew he had a bad reputation around school for his bright blond hair and hot-tempered nature, so he didn't blame any of them for not volunteering. If he were in their position, he wouldn't want to willingly volunteer either.

"…I'll do it."

All heads in the room snapped towards the direction of the brave girl that willingly volunteered. Nijimura stared at this girl with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and bright emerald green eyes shyly raising her hand as she stood from her seat. Her eyes were glued to the ground to avoid the eyes of her peers but Nijimura could clearly see she was scared just by how her fingers of her raised hand trembled slightly.

Sakamoto nodded his head as he looked down at the seating chart. "Okay then, let's see… Setsuna Miyamoto-san, correct? Please come up."

Nodding her head a few times in confirmation, Setsuna walked to the front of the class with her eyes glued to the floor before standing right next to him. He peeked at her out of the corner of her eyes and she did the same, but she quickly looked away the next second a returned her gaze to the class in front of them.

"Alright class, Shuzo Nijimura and Setsuna Miyamoto will be your class representatives for this school year."

As their class applauded them, their gazes met again. Setsuna looked away shyly and her cheeks turning red as she stared down at the ground while he just let out a sigh.

 _This was going to be a long year…_

* * *

Nijimura couldn't believe. He really couldn't believe any of it.

"Good morning, Setsuna-chan!"

Turning towards the girl waving at her, she waved back at her with a bright smile on her face. "Good morning, Kaori-chan! I hope you have a wonderful day today!"

Honestly, how any of this happened was completely beyond him.

A boy stepped in front of her, giving her a charming smile. "Hey Miyamoto-san, you're looking as pretty as usual."

She giggled, her cheeks flushed with a light pink. "Thank you, Tachibana-kun! You're so nice to me and it always brightens my day. You look very handsome today, as well."

 _Just how on earth did this girl become so popular within two months?_

Well, if he had to make an assumption, it would probably be the fact that after Setsuna Miyamoto overcame her shy nature, her overall personality completely changed. Rather than being known as that shy girl who would flinch every time someone approached her, she quickly became known as the always cheerful and perpetually sweet girl that everyone loved to be around. She just gave off a friendly aura that made her approachable to everyone, whether that person is a student, a teacher, or even some random stranger.

Though this was rather rude of him to think, he knew she certainly wasn't popular due to her academic achievements or athletic capabilities. He wasn't saying that she was stupid or anything, far from it, she actually always did just a bit above average on tests and exams but never anything award worthy. When it came to physical education, the girl was not capable at all. She was very clumsy, often falling and tripping over her own feet or overworking herself and feeling faint from heatstroke. What surprised Nijimura even more was the fact that guys in his class would fight over who would take her to the nurse's office before the sensei would just have another girl take her to prevent male students from clawing each other's throats out.

And as if her popularity wasn't enough, there was an even more ridiculous thing about Setsuna Miyamoto. This was the thing that made her the most envied girl in the entire school.

"U-Um, Miyamoto-san! I-I've liked you for a while now, please go out with me!"

She would get at least one confession every two weeks, whether it be from an upperclassman or someone from their year or even from someone who didn't attend Teiko. However, despite the almost endless amount of confessions, the result was always the same. It didn't matter if the guy was popular or good-looking or anything.

Looking at the guy confessing to her with the kindest smile she could muster, she would gently shaking her head before looking at them apologetically. "I appreciate you telling me this, but I'm afraid I'm not ready for a relationship. Ah, please don't feel sad about it! If you're okay with it, I don't mind being friends. But that's only if you're okay with it!"

It would always end in rejection. Never a harsh rejection, mind you. She would say it in the nicest way possible. If there was a definition for 'too nice', Setsuna Miyamoto's photo would be right there as an example.

However, despite her popularity in school, Nijimura noticed that the girl didn't have very many close friends. Sure, she had plenty of people that would greet her throughout the day or eat lunch with her, but some of these so-called friends would often talk badly about her behind her back as soon as she was out of hearing range. Due to her reputation of rejecting every confession she receives, some girls would spread fake rumors about her to anyone who would bother to listen. He made this observation after accidentally overhearing said rumors during clean up one day.

As he carried two large bags of trash around the school to the dumpster, he quickly spotted a group of guys back Setsuna against a wall. Despite being quite a distance away from them, he could easily hear their harsh words to her.

"Hey, is it true that you slept with some business man because he offered you money?"

"If I pay you, does that mean you'd sleep with me?"

"Just name your price, you whore."

Setsuna just kept her gaze glued to the ground, biting her lip nervously. Despite the fact he was quite a distance from her, he could clearly see how uncomfortable she was. Her gaze remained glued to the ground, her mouth was curved into a frown, and her hands nervously tugged at the end of her shirt.

Sure, Shuzo Nijimura was known around Teiko Middle School as a delinquent and one hell of a fighter, but that didn't mean he was heartless. While he may seem like a bad guy on the surface, he just isn't the type that would turn a blind eye to someone being bullied. In fact, seeing this kind of shit happening was exactly why he gets provoked in the first place.

Gritting his teeth together, he quickly tossed the trash into the dumpster before rolling up his sleeves and running towards them. "Hey!"

One of the guys harassing her all turned around, only to be met in the face with one of Nijimura's brutal punches. The other two turned towards him as well, pulling back their fists to fight back, but Nijimura already got a good grip of one of their collars before flipping him over onto his back while the other guy was met with a kick to the stomach. With all three guys on the ground, Nijimura shot them all angry glares as he yelled at them. "Now get the hell out of here before I knock all your teeth out!" He continued to glare at them even as they struggled to get to their feet before they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. Once they were gone, Nijimura sighed as he cracked his neck. "Wimps…"

"Um…" Nijimura flinched before quickly looking over his shoulder to see Setsuna. The girl walked up next to him and shot him a small smile. "…I-I just wanted to say…Thank you, Nijimura-san. The things they were saying made me upset, but I wasn't sure what I could say to get them to leave me alone… Really, I'm thankful you were there to help me!"

Heat rushed to his face and he quickly looked away, scratching the back of his head nervously. "W-Whatever, I just did that because they were saying bad things to you and that just pissed me off… It's not like I did it for you or anything like that."

Her emerald green eyes widened a fraction. She stared at him for a couple of minutes with that look of surprise before she brought a hand up to her mouth to stifle her giggles. "Hehe, I knew it."

Confused, Nijimura's eyes narrowed in her direction. "Knew what?"

Setsuna brought her hand away from her mouth and smiled. "Despite what the rumors say about you… You're actually quite kind, aren't you?"

The incoherent noises he sputtered out in response succeeded in making her laugh.

 _Well, if she's able to laugh like that, that at least means that she's feeling better._

* * *

As the rainy season was finally upon them, his mother made sure he carried an umbrella in his bag today. However, he couldn't help but grumble at the fact that his mother gave him quite possibly the girliest umbrella his family owns.

 _Seriously, why the heck does my family own this small white umbrella decorated with big pink polka dots? Mom and Hitomi don't even like pink!_

Letting out a sigh as he slipped on his shoes, he turned his head to look outside. The downpour was so heavy that anyone caught in it without an umbrella would definitely end up sick. Digging through his bag, he pulled out the compact folding umbrella and walked up to the exit. As he extended the umbrella, something in his peripheral caught his attention. Curious, he looked over to see a person sitting near the doors. "…Miyamoto?"

Turning towards him, Setsuna regarded him with a nod and smile. "Hello, Nijimura-san. I heard you got in trouble with Sakamoto-sensei for beating up those three boys two weeks ago. I promise you, I wasn't the one who told him what happened."

Nijimura scoffed while glaring down at the ground. "It's fine, Miyamoto. I don't really care if you told him or not since he seems to always know whenever I cause trouble… Tch, it's like he's got it out for me or something."

She just giggled and shook her head. "Actually, I think Sakamoto-sensei is just trying to look out for you in his own way. I mean, he could have easily just put you on suspension, but he didn't and just let you off with a warning this time."

"I guess so…" He shrugged before opening the compact umbrella so it unfolded. As he stared at the umbrella, he couldn't help but wonder something now that he knew Setsuna was here. "Now that I think about it… Why are you still here, Miyamoto? I thought you finished your duties a lot earlier than I did…"

Setsuna had a wry smile as she held up a completely beat up umbrella that was bent up in various places. There were even a couple of holes in the fabric that were made cut by what he assumed to be scissors or box cutters. "Well, when I came down here, it was already like this… I would've called my parents, but I didn't want to bother my father or mother since they're both too busy with work. I was hoping that I could wait for the rain to die down, but it doesn't look like that'll be happening anytime soon…" Letting out a laugh, she got up to dump her ruined umbrella into the trash. "Well, I guess I should just suck it up and go home before it gets worse."

Now that he thought back on it, there were girls he caught messing around during clean up… They said they were just returning a lost umbrella, so the thought didn't even cross his mind that they actually did this instead. But now that he thought back on it, it made sense that they did it. Those girls would often talk badly about Setsuna behind her back despite pretending to be friends with her during the day. With a frown, he gripped the handle of his umbrella tightly. "I know who did it."

"Really?" She questioned wistfully, no sense of curiosity in her tone.

That surprised him. He looked at her, brows furrowed together in suspicion. "You… Don't seem like you want to know."

In response, Setsuna shook her head. "I know it was Kaori-chan and her friends, so it's okay."

The fact that she had no sense of anger or urgency in her voice unsettled him a bit. "But Miyamoto, they're bullying you… It's not just this! You know that they're the ones that are spreading bad rumors about you, right?" He wasn't sure why he felt a bit panicked. Perhaps it was just because he didn't think letting stuff like this go was okay. "You should let a teacher know so they can get in trouble for what they're doing!"

"I know." Her eyes were closed and a serene smile on her face. "It doesn't affect me that much though. I mean, sure… I admit, because of the rumors, no one actually wants to be my friend and that kind of hurts, but… Even if it's just acting, they're still my friends…" Setsuna then looked up at him, her emerald green eyes shining brightly despite her slightly pained smile. "…I know this sounds pathetic, but I just don't want to feel alone."

Thunder rumbled rather loudly after she said that. Nijimura couldn't help but stare at her with wide eyes. "Miyamoto…"

"I appreciate your concern, Nijimura-san, but this is just the kind of thing I'll put up with to stop myself from feeling alone." With that, she took off her school blazer and pulled it over her head while using her other arm to hold her bag to her chest. "Well, that thunder earlier can't be a good sign, so we should leave soon before this weather gets any worse."

 _So it's not that you don't know…_

Nijimura frowned when she nodded her head at him with a small smile. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow if I don't get sick!"

 _You do know, but you don't say anything because you don't want to feel lonely._

Biting the inside of his cheek, he let out an annoyed sigh as he dropped his umbrella on the ground. Bringing his bag up above his head, he ran headfirst into the downpour. "Use it!"

"Huh? Wait, Nijimura-san!" She tried to stop him, but he was already gone. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she put her blazer back on before bending down to pick up the umbrella he left behind. She stared at it for a while before she held it over her head. A smile curved on her lips as she walked out into the rain. "White with pink polka dots, huh?"

* * *

"This fucking sucks- OW!"

"Watch your language, young man!" Yuri snapped as she slapped her son's forehead with a cooling patch. "Of course you would get sick if you came home soaking wet! I thought I gave you an umbrella!"

Nijimura grumbled under his breath as he pulled his blanket up to his mouth. "Yes, but why was it the girliest one we owned?"

Yuri glared down at him with a sinister smile, cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner. "What was that, Shuzo? Did you say something? You really need to speak up when talking, especially to your mother. It's bad manners."

"Nothing!" He yelled as he buried himself beneath his blankets. Letting out a sigh, he whispered quietly under his breath. "…Thank you, mom."

Hearing his appreciation, she smiled before walking towards his door. "Just let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Once she walked out of his room and closed the door, Nijimura pulled his covers off of himself as he glared up at his ceiling. Though he knew he had this cold coming, he secretly hoped he didn't get sick so he could talk to Setsuna at school today. After she revealed the truth of what she knew, he couldn't get her words out of his mind.

"It's like we're the same, in a way…" He mused while resting the back of his hand against his forehead.

They were both lonely… He was a delinquent who no one wanted to associate with while she was a social butterfly but had no real connection with anyone. It was funny to think about, honestly… You would think that someone like her wouldn't feel lonely, but she does.

Rolling over to rest on his side, he felt the exhaustion weigh down on his eyelids. Before he knew it, his eyes began to close before letting some much needed sleep take over.

…

Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up from his bed before turning to look out his window. Judging from the sun and the small groups of students chatting animatedly as they walked on the streets, he could assume it was late afternoon and school probably ended a while ago. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Nijimura removed the cooling pad from his forehead and got out of bed before deciding to head down to the kitchen. To his surprise, his mother was humming happily as she was slicing apples. "What's all that for?"

Looking at him over her shoulder, Yuri chuckled mischievously. "Oh Shuzo, you should've told me sooner that you had a girlfriend!"

As the words registered in his mind, he gave her a blank stare. When the reality of what she said finally hit him, his mouth hung open in confusion and disbelief. "…I have a what now?"

She smirked, pointing into the direction of their living room. When Nijimura looked, he almost choked when he saw Setsuna sitting at their table drinking a cup of tea as she watched TV. The playful smile never leaving her face, Yuri wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "She's so cute! How on earth did you get someone like her? She's at _least_ a good nine out of ten while you're just a two."

His eye twitched slightly at her unnecessary comment. "She's not my girlfriend! Would you stop being so weird?" Pushing her arm away to escapef her grasp, he quickly walked into the living room to approach her. "Uh… Hey Miyamoto… W-What are you doing here?"

Looking in his direction, she regarded him with a nod and a slightly nervous smile before setting her tea cup on the table. "Hello, Nijimura-san! I'm sorry that I'm intruding, but Sakamoto-sensei asked me to check up on you and to give you the homework for today."

He blinked a couple of times as he looked at the small stack of papers she set neatly on the table. "…Ugh, seriously, sensei? Even on a sick day, I can't catch a break from you…"

Digging through her bag, Setsuna let out a nervous chuckle as she pulled out a notebook and handed it to him. "Ah, um, math isn't really my best subject… B-But I did my best to take good notes so you could understand the lesson from today. Oh, and don't worry, I… I made sure to include the notes for all of our other classes in there too. There's also an English test on Friday, so make sure you review the vocabulary and grammar lessons from last week too."

Staring at the notebook in his hands for a few seconds, he opened it and flipped through the pages. His eyes widened a fraction when he noticed that each page was filled of her neat handwriting, colorful highlighted lines, and small sticky notes next to important details. "…Miyamoto, you take really good notes."

She smiled at his compliment, nervously tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Nijimura-san… You see, I'm the type that forgets things easily, so I have to take really detailed notes if I want to retain the information. I made sure to organize your notes so it wouldn't be confusing."

When he sat on the table across from her, he set the notebook down. "Wait, do you mean you hand wrote all this for me?"

"Of course!" She remarked as if what he said was completely unthinkable. "I did my best to finish our duties early so I could recopy all my notes for you. Ah, but I made an effort to make yours look nicer than mine." She looked down nervously while her fingers intertwined together. "Well, I just… I wanted to do this as a thank you for letting me use your umbrella yesterday. After all, you ended up getting sick because you gave me your umbrella. I just felt bad, you know?"

Nijimura felt a slight heat rush to his face as he looked away, coughing nervously into his fist. "Ah, well… It's fine. I recover from colds fast, so I should be well enough to go back tomorrow…"

Setsuna giggled. "I see. That's good, I hope you have a speedy recovery."

"Oh, don't worry about him, Setsuna-chan." Yuri commented as she walked in with a plate of sliced apple bunnies and a teapot. "I'll make sure he's better by tomorrow so you won't have to make up for his slack. Would you like more tea?"

She nodded. "Yes please, if you wouldn't mind. Thank you for the tea and apples, Mrs. Nijimura."

The way his mother giggled unsettled him greatly. The shiver that shot down his spine was disturbing. "You're welcome, dear. It's the least I can do since you stopped by."

He just looked at Yuri with disbelief written all over his face. "Who are you and what did you do to my mother…?"

The subtle glare that his mother shot him shut him up immediately before she returned her attention to Setsuna, handing her a cup full of tea. "Well dear, I'll be in the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Setsuna nodded as she closed her eyes and brought the cup up to her lips. "I will, thank you so much."

When his mother returned to the kitchen, Nijimura had an apple before speaking. "Miyamoto," She peeked an eye open to look at him. "You didn't have to drop off notes and homework to my house… Isn't it troublesome?"

Once she finished her cup, she set it down and shook her head. "Not at all. I actually wanted to come see you today, so when Sakamoto-sensei asked me to give you the homework from today, it was kind of a good excuse to ask him for your address." Embarrassed, she brought her hands up to her flushed cheeks. "Ahh, I'm sorry! T-That just now… It sounded creepy…"

Quickly, he shook his head to reassure her. "N-No! You're fine, I get what you mean!"

Setsuna let out a sigh of relief. "I see, that's good… Oh, and honestly, it's not any trouble for me to drop this off because we actually live pretty close to each other! I'm honestly surprised we never bumped into each other while walking to school!"

"O-Oh, is that so?" He honestly wasn't sure what to do right now… He wasn't really used to talking to girls. Sure, he could talk to girls when it came to school related things, but talking with one casually like this was new to him. "S-Since we live closely, that means we could walk to school together and stuff."

 _…Did I really just say that?! What the fuck is wrong with me?!_

At that moment, he wanted to laugh it off as a joke, but he was caught off guard when Setsuna looked at him with hope filled eyes. "Really?! Do you mean it?!"

 _Okay, she gave you a chance. Take it back!_

"Yeah!"

 _Shuzo, you fucking idiot…_

If she wasn't in front of him, he would have honestly slammed his head against the table and screamed. Contrary to how he thought she would react, she honestly looked extremely happy, so much so that the smile on her face was practically blinding. "I'm really happy, Nijimura-san! I never met up with someone to walk to school together. Ah, is it stupid that I'm so excited about this?"

He just shook his head awkwardly. "N-No, you're fine…"

To his surprise, she took a hold of his hands and held them up. "I hope you get better by tomorrow so we can walk to school together!"

At that moment, he was thankful he was sick right now… If she asked, he could blame his sickness for his red face. "Y-Yeah…"

"Ah, I should actually go now so you can rest." She then got out of her chair and bent down to pick up her bag off the floor. "Thank you again for being so nice to me, Nijimura-san. Send me a text so we can meet up, okay?"

Nijimura just nodded his head. "Sure… W-Walk home safely, Miyamoto."

With a giggle, she waved goodbye before walking out. "I will! Bye!"

After Setsuna left, Yuri leaned against a wall with her arms cross with an evident smirk on her features. "Nice going! I'm surprised you actually knew how to talk to girls."

"MOM!"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What? It's true! Usually, you end up scaring them away."

He was practically growling at her now. "I don't need to hear your damn opinions!"

"Well you fucking need them!"

* * *

Ever since that day, the two of them were the closest pair of class representatives among the first years. One could even say that they two were best friends. If someone wanted to find Nijimura, they would ask Setsuna and vice versa. They practically knew each other like the back of their hands. It was a relationship that made Sakamoto-sensei happy, seeing the hotheaded and rebellious Nijimura turn into a kind and caring friend that the friendly, but lonely Setsuna needed.

However, this relationship was a dual edged sword. While Setsuna did help to bring out Nijimura's kinder side, she also brought another side of him out.

"Oh, Nijimura-kun, good timing! Sakamoto-sensei just asked me to- whaaa!"

His protective side.

Nijimura raised a brow at the girl when she fell backwards. The stack of papers she was carrying had scattered all over the floor. Bending down towards her, he cocked his head to the side while holding a hand out towards her. "You alright, Miyamoto? Did you hurt yourself?"

Taking his hand so he could pull her up, she quickly brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt before giving him a distressed look. "I should be the one asking _you_ that! Nijimura-san, what happened to you? Why do you have so many bruises and scratches? Does it hurt? Are you okay?!"

He huffed before stuffing his hands into his pockets while looking to the side to avoid her concerned gaze. "…It's nothing. And I don't exactly feel up to playing twenty questions with you."

There was a sad look in her emerald green eyes in response to his words. Taking a step closer to him, she gently placed a hand on his bruised cheek with a pained frown. "Were… Were there people saying things about me behind my back again?"

She knew she hit the nail on the head when he flinched slightly and his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "N-No! Some punks were just picking a fight with me and I decided to teach them a lesson!"

Giggling at his flustered expression, she got on her toes to place her hand on his head to caress his surprisingly soft blond locks. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye to see she was giving him her signature sweet smile. "…Thank you for looking out for me, Nijimura-kun. I appreciate what you do, but I'd prefer if you were less violent about it. I don't want to see you getting hurt anymore because of me."

Was it the way she ran her fingers over through his hair at that moment? Maybe it was the way she smiled at him despite his reputation as Teiko's number one hot-blooded fighter? Perhaps it was because she was probably his only close friend in the entire school? Or it might even just be her sweet words… There was just something about this girl that made his heart pound loudly in his chest whenever she was around him.

His cheeks turned a darker shade of pink. "W-Whatever!"

When her hand left his head, he felt a tad sad. Bending down, she began to pick up the papers scattered across the floor. "Well, after we take care of everything for Sakamoto-sensei, shall we walk home together?"

To help her, Nijimura also bent down to pick up any other papers. "Sure… That's fine."

Their hands met as the both made a motion to grab the last paper. Both their cheeks flushed slightly and their eyes met for a brief moment before their hands immediately retreating from each other. Amidst his shock, she reached back out to take the paper. Teasingly sticking her tongue out at him, she waved the paper in front of his face. "Too slow, Nijimura-san!"

He glared at her for a bit before grabbing the paper out of her hand and adding it to his pile. "…Quit that, won't you?"

"Hehe, okay I'll stop teasing." She giggled while smoothing out her skirt with her hands as she stood up.

"Not that." He shook his head as he took more than half of her pile and added it to his. "Drop the formalities already. I think we're past that point already, Miyamoto."

After she picked up her own pile, she stared at him with surprise. To avoid her seeing his own pink cheeks, he picked up his tall pile while turning his back to her and walking ahead. He could hear her running to catch up to him, stopping when she was right behind him. "Alright, then is 'Nijimura-kun' okay?"

"…" He didn't respond and just walked towards the door of the classroom.

Setsuna hummed thoughtfully at his lack of response as she followed close behind him. "Hmm… Since you're being quiet, I assume that's no good… Then what about 'Shuzo-kun'?"

His eyes widened a fraction and he could feel his heart beating faster in his chest. Fighting off the urge to smile like an idiot when she called his name like that, he cleared his throat. "T-That's fine, uh… S-Setsuna."

Once they finished their duties and Sakamoto-sensei gave them the okay to go home, but not after scolding Nijimura for getting into another fight. When the two of them were in front of his house, she smiled at him and waved. "Well, I'll be heading home then. See you tomorrow?"

After debating it over in his head for a few minutes, he decided to ask before she walked away from him. "Hey, Setsuna."

Turning on her heel so she could stand in front of him, she cocked her head to the side slightly. "Yes?"

He brought a fist up to his mouth as he cleared his throat before bringing that hand to scratch the back of his neck. "D-Do you want to come over for a bit? I heard from people that you're top in our class when it comes to English. D-Do you think you could you tutor me?"

She blinked a few times at his request before smiling brightly at him while nodding energetically. "Of course! I'd be happy to."

Needless to say, his mother was ecstatic the moment she saw Setsuna walk inside their house. "Oh my, hello, Setsuna-chan! Please, come in. I'll prepare some tea!"

Nijimura just scoffed as he took off his shoes. When he took a step in, he shot a glare in his mother's direction. "Thanks for your concern, mom. I'm doing _just_ fine."

Yuri just sighed while crossing her arms over her chest. "You know I care about you too, I just don't always voice my concern. Besides, you've come home like this many times before, I know you'll be fine."

Setsuna removed her shoes before stepping into his house and bowing her head at his mother. "Hello, Mrs. Nijimura. Thank you for always being so kind whenever I visit."

His mother giggled, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh Setsuna-chan, I told you to call me 'mom' already."

" _Mom!_ " Nijimura barked angrily.

The elder black haired woman pouted towards her son. "Not you, Shuzo! I was talking to Setsuna-chan!"

He groaned loudly while running a hand through his blond hair in frustration. Setsuna just chuckled, playing with her fingers nervously. "W-Well, if you would excuse us… He asked me to tutor him in English today."

"Oh, of course. I'll bring the tea up when it's ready. Thank you for always being kind to my idiot son." His mother commented from the kitchen.

"Mom, shut up!" Nijimura yelled as he took a hold of Setsuna's hand before leading her into his room. Once the two of them were alone, he shut the door behind him and let out a frustrated sigh. "Sorry that my mom's always like that whenever you come over, Setsuna."

She shook her head. "Oh, I don't mind. I know she's just being friendly. But Shuzo-kun, I can't really feel my hand…"

That was when he realized he was still holding onto her hand. Quickly, he pulled his hand away and hid his blush with the back of his hand. "S-Sorry about that."

"It's alright! Well, before I start tutoring you, let me treat your wounds first." Setsuna whispered in a soothing tone as she gently placed her hand on his bruised cheek.

He frowned a bit, gently placing his hand over hers. "You don't need to do that…"

"Please?"

Given the way she said that and the stars that seemed to shine in her eyes, there was just no way he could say no.

"Ah, fuck that's cold!"

Setsuna snorted as she continued to hold the ice pack against his cheek. "That's kind of the point of an ice pack, you know…"

He grumbled a bit under his breath. "No one asked you…"

She laughed before taking one of his hands and forcing him to hold the ice pack. "Okay, keep that there while I treat your knuckles. Ah jeez, you really messed them up this time. What did you do? Threaten someone by punching a concrete wall?"

"…" He kept silent but made sure to avoid eye contact with her.

Despite that, she smiled knowingly. "I hit the nail on the head again, didn't I?"

"…Shut up."

* * *

Their relationship was so simple. They always spent time with each other because of their duties. After they finished, they would go home together and sometimes Setsuna would stay at his house for a while so they could study together. Since they would help each other in their weak subjects, both of their grades improved and Nijimura got a better reputation around the school. He was no longer known as a delinquent, something Setsuna was thankful for since it meant he wouldn't be getting into fights as much anymore.

Something he secretly enjoyed was that sometimes Setsuna's parents would let her stay the night at his house. Of course his family didn't mind, seeing that his parents adored her while Nijimura's younger siblings enjoyed having an older sister around. Whenever she wasn't over, his family would always tease him and tell him to just propose already. In response, he would yell at them and tell them to shut up.

Despite their close relationship, however, that didn't stop the guys from confessing to her. Even with her kind rejections, sometimes these guys would overstep their boundaries and would do something stupid like harass her until she agreed. Luckily for her, Nijimura would be nearby to save her if things got too bad. He protected her like an older brother would protect his little sister. But as their first year came went on, things would change for the two of them. The first change happened around a week before summer vacation.

"Huh? Your dad's in the hospital?!"

Nijimura just sighed as he nodded. "Yeah… We haven't gotten a diagnosis on him yet. The doctor's said that he'll get better, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about him…"

Setsuna frowned slightly as she massaged the black hair dye through his hair. "I'm sure your father will be okay, he's a strong man. Oh, but what are you going to do about basketball? You told me you got promoted to first string… And from what the rumors going around, you're one of the guys the coach is considering to be captain next year."

"I'm hesitant about that, though. You know my history…" He spoke with uncertainty in his tone and a frown on his face.

She hummed as she continued to massage the dye into his hair. Once she felt his hair was thoroughly soaked in the dye, she removed her gloves carefully so the dye wouldn't get on her skin before discarding them into a nearby trash can. "Sure, you have a history of getting into fights, but that doesn't mean you aren't a good person. Besides, you taking up basketball ended up being good for you! You're not getting into as many fights since you have a new outlet for all your energy. Oh, and you always look out for me… I know you would do the same for anyone else, so those qualities of yours would make a good captain."

He leaned his neck back to stare at the ceiling while she put the plastic shower cap over his head. "How can you be so sure, Tsuna?"

Placing her hands on his shoulders from behind, she got on her toes and leaned forward so she was in his line of vision. "After all the time I've spent with you Shu, I can definitely say that you're very reliable. I mean, you always have my back whether I need you or not. Not saying that I don't need you, because trust me, I do need you in my life."

His eyes widened a fraction at her confession.

 _Did she really just admit that she needs me in her life?_

Nijimura was far from stupid and he wasn't going to ignore his emotions despite how he much he rejected them before. After all the time he spent by Setsuna's side as one of her best friends, he knew he had developed feelings for Setsuna. He knew those feelings were something more than just their supposed brother-sister relationship. Due to the fact that he didn't want to ruin what he already had with her, he kept these feelings to himself. Though, he was honestly just scared that she would also reject him like she had done with every other guy that confessed to her. Maybe one day he would confess to her, but for now, he wasn't quite ready to give up his place as her best friend if she did reject him.

Waving a hand in front of his face, she called his name. "Shu? Shuuuuuu? Hey!"

Snapping out of his train of thoughts, he shook his head slightly. "Sorry Tsuna, you were saying?"

She sighed as she sat on his bed, one leg crossing over the other. "Like I said earlier, what are your thoughts about me possibly becoming manager of the tennis team?"

He tapped his foot against the ground as he thought about it. "That's fine. I think you'd make a good manager, honestly. You're always really responsible, so you'd suit that role."

Smiling at his comment, she tucked some hair behind her ear. "I'm only responsible because, between the two of us, one of us has to be."

The two of them continued to laugh at each other's playful remarks and talk about whatever came to their minds until it was time for Nijimura to wash the dye out of his hair. When he got out of the shower and got a look at himself in the mirror, he gave a satisfied smile while running his fingers through his hair. Excitedly walking back into his room, he opened the door and revealed himself to her. "So, what do you think?"

Staring at him with wide eyes, she smiled and clapped happily. "Fantastic! I think black suits you a lot better. Honestly, it makes you look very handsome."

His cheeks flushed pink as he threw his towel in her direction, only for her to catch it with both hands. "Oh shut up…" Walking up to her, he pushed her down onto his bed before lying next to her, the both of them staring up at the ceiling.

Things were silent between them until Setsuna turned to look in his direction. "Hey Shu… I have a question for you."

Keeping his eyes glued to the ceiling, he placed both his hands behind his head. "Go ahead."

Moving so she was now lying on her side, she spoke quietly. "Do… Do you think we'll still be friends like this next year?"

He turned his head to look at her, raising one brow. "What do you mean? Do you not want to be friends next year or something?"

Their eyes met, her emerald green eyes looking deep into his dark gray eyes. "I do still want to be friends, it's just… What if we end up in separate classes next year? Or what if we become too busy and we can't hang out together like this anymore? I don't want that… I love spending time with you."

The heat returned to his cheeks and his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

 _Ah fuck it…_

In that moment, he threw away all of his hesitation. Moving closer to her, Nijimura wrapped one arm around her back as his other hand held the back of her head. The embrace was tight and warm, and her scent drove him crazy. He could hear her gasp softly into his ear from his sudden action. "Tsuna, I promise you… No matter what, I will always be there for you when you need me. Call for me anytime, I will leave practice and come straight to you."

His heart began to beat faster as he felt her arms wrap around him. "…What if you get in trouble?"

Nijimura just shook his head, tightening his embrace as he whispered softly. "I don't care. Sure, that may be important to me, but you're more important to me, Tsuna. I can live without basketball, but you…" His hand began to gently caress the back of her head now. "You're so important to me that I can't imagine living without you."

The words caused a content smile to curve on her lips. Looking back at him one more time, she tightened her embrace while nuzzling her head against his chest. "Thank you, Shu. That makes me happy!"

 _And that happiness is all I care about…_

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (January 2 2017): Edited to fix any errors. Expanded on a couple of scenes, added dialogue in certain places to expand more on character interactions. Overall, I'm a lot happier with the new version of this chapter.

Fun Facts for this chapter:  
-This story was originally planned to be scrapped because I couldn't figure out who to pair Setsuna with. I was debating between Midorima or Murasakibara, but I wanted to change it by pairing her with a minor character. I picked Nijimura because he seemed like a good character to fit in the theme.  
-I like the idea of Nijimura having a mother who's tough on him because of his hot-blooded stage in life. In my thoughts, she had to be tough with him to keep him in check.  
-Since there isn't much known about Nijimura's first year days other than he went through a hot-blooded stage and used to be blond, I wanted to write a story based on that little bit of information.

I actually have the first chapter of each story written out in advance, so the first chapter of each story will be released faster than other chapters. I was intending to release this in three days, but you know what? I'll release it early just for you guys.

Anyway, welcome to the next part of Wasurenagusa! This is Nijimura's story, Longing.

This story takes place during the Teiko days, meaning I have a lot more freedom with this than I did with Mizuki's story, which followed the anime's storyline. This story is going to be quite difficult, since there isn't much to go on with Nijimura since not much is known about him, but I hope you all enjoy how I write him out!

Also, if any of you are interested, I have a tumblr now. I'm under the same username, Ari Yukimoto. I have posted the character profiles there for anyone curious about any of my OCs. I'll also answer any questions there regarding my stories if you can't contact me here through a PM.

I will come back and edit any mistakes that I see later, as mistakes just love to avoid me during the editing process.

Finally, huge thank you for the lovely reviews last chapter. They all made me very happy. And of course, thank you to all the readers and followers of this story. You all bring a smile to my face. Please continue to show support for this story by leaving a review and/or following/favoriting if you're a new reader to the series so I know you all want to see more. Thank you!

-Ari


	6. Longing Chapter Two

_"I close my eyes and feel your breath. I dream of you, a smile spreads across my lips. You're breathing with me now. Time, please stop, don't separate her and I."_

 _-Big Bang (Love Song)_

After finishing the last problem on the worksheet, Nijimura set down his pencil before his gaze shifted towards Setsuna, who had a small frown on her face covered by her finger resting against her lips. He knew she asked him to remain quiet when she was trying to focus, but he couldn't just sit there and wait for her to finish the long question she was on. Placing his elbow on the table and resting his head against his hand, he tilted his head to the side a bit. "Hey Tsuna, you know it's summer vacation, right…?"

She didn't bother to look at him as her gaze remained glued to the paper while she was slowly writing her answer down. "Yes, I'm well aware that it's summer vacation… Why do you ask?

"Well, why the hell are we staying indoors and doing homework on the _first day_ of vacation?" Nijimura whined in a rather childish manner as he lied his back against the floor, waving a fan lazily at his sweaty face to combat the heat.

When she finished writing whatever it was she was writing, she set down her pencil with an exasperated sighed before looking at him. "If we finish our homework within the first week of vacation, we don't have to worry about it later. We'll be free for the rest of summer! C'mon Shu, just hang in there. I'm here if you need help!"

He snorted, resting the fan against his chest while peeking over at her with a sly smile on his face. "Yeah, and I'm here to help you because you suck at math."

Her face turned red with anger at his statement. Looking behind her, she took a pillow from his bed and used it to hit him in the face. "Rude! Do I need to remind you that I help you with English all the time?"

Taking the pillow off of his face, he pushed himself back up with his hands and groaned. "I don't need to learn English! It's not like I'm planning on ever leaving Japan anyway…"

Setsuna looked at him with one raised brow. "Why? Don't you want to try traveling the world outside of Japan? Haven't you ever wanted to live somewhere else before?"

Turning his head towards her, he stared at her for a while. She stared back, blinking a few times before tilting her head to the side in confusion, some of her bangs falling in front of her eyes. Smiling a bit, Nijimura lifted a hand up to brush her bangs away from her eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, I need to be wherever you are, since I've taken it upon myself to take care of you."

The kind words caught her off guard and she stared at him with wide eyes. Her gaze then softened and she giggled. "You know, if you were this nice to everyone, they wouldn't be so scared of you."

Nijimura snorted as he leaned forward to rest his arms against the table. "I need them to fear me. One of us has to be the scary one here or our classmates won't listen to us."

She almost looked offended at his statement. "Excuse me? I can be plenty scary!"

Returning to his attention to his homework, he laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, you're as scary as a marshmallow."

The pout returned to her face and she huffed while crossing her arms over her chest while turning her head away from him. "Hmph! Whatever, Shu… I take it all back. You're not nice at all."

A smirked curled onto his lips and an evil glint in his eyes as he set his pencil back down. Looking over at Setsuna, he began to crawl closer to her. "Heh, you're right, I'm not nice."

"Shu? Wah- NO!" Falling to ground as Nijimura tackled her, his hands flew to her sides and he began tickling her. "H-haha, stop it! Sh-Shuuu!"

The smile on his face widened as she continued to laugh with tears in her eyes, weakly attempting to push him away. "Why should I stop, Tsuna? You said it yourself, I'm not nice at all."

Tapping her hand against the floor, she spoke in between giggles. "I-I give! Ahaha, dang it Shu, I g-give!" Once he stopped, she panted hard as she laid on the floor, a hand resting over her stomach. "…Not cool, Shu."

He hummed playfully as he twirled his pencil between his fingers. "Is there a problem, Tsuna? You really should focus on your work."

Returning to her spot next to him, she frowned as she resumed doing her homework. "Hey Shu, take your sass, and put it in your pocket."

* * *

Once the week was over, they had finally finished their homework just in time before the next fireworks festival. After getting teased by his family about his "date" with Setsuna, Nijimura went to her house before she finished getting ready and waited for her to finish up.

"Hey kid." Nijimura's head shot up to look in the direction of the voice. He was met with a rather young looking man with with short, messy hair in a familiar strawberry blond shade. An older brother or cousin, perhaps? Whoever this man was, he had a kind smile on his face as he leaned his back against a wall next to a large cabinet. "Thanks for always watching after my daughter. The name's Kenji, by the way."

Nijimura's eyes widened when he realized that this man was Setsuna's father and not her older brother like he originally thought. Hastily shaking his head, he bowed respectfully to the older man. "I-I don't mind at all, sir. If anything, I want to thank you for allowing me to take her out today. I wanted to do this as thanks for her always helping me out… She's amazing, and she definitely changed me for the better."

"I'm glad you understand how great my daughter is, you little brat." Kenji laughed as he casually pulled out a sheathed katana from behind the cabinet next to him, taking the blade out with a kind smile coated in malice on his face. "Well, I just want you to keep in mind that if anything happens to my precious little snowflake, I'll fucking kill you."

"Papa!"

He flinched at hearing Setsuna reprimanded him, the sword falling back into the sheath as he slowly turning to look at her. "Setsuna! You look so beautiful! The most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life! Besides your mother, of course!"

When Nijimura saw Setsuna, he couldn't stop the blush from rising to his cheeks as he got a good look at her. She was dressed in a royal purple yukata and white obi, both garments decorated with white and lilac flowers. Her short strawberry blonde hair was in its usual style, only difference being the light pink flower pinned in her hair and accented by long, thin red and white ribbons. Placing a hand on the back of his neck, he smiled shyly. "Y-You look nice, Tsuna."

Shyly, she brought her hands up to cover her blushing cheeks. "Thanks, Shu. Good to see that you dressed nicer than usual."

Embarrassed, he looked away and scratched the back of his head. "W-Whatever, my mom wouldn't let me leave the house unless I dressed like this."

"Alright kids, enough flirting in my house." Kenji groaned as he got out a camera. "Boy, stand next to my daughter, but not too close! If you so much as put your hand on her, I will ki-"

"Papa!" Setsuna scolded her father once again with cute, puffed up cheeks. "Stop that!"

Shyly and awkwardly, the two of them stood next to each other, smiling for the numerous photos that Setsuna's father snapped.

Her mother, Rin, walked up behind her husband and tapped his shoulder. "Dear, we should let them go. We would want them to miss out on the festival."

Setsuna smiled shyly as her father continued to take pictures of the two of them from different angles. "Papa, please stop! You're embarrassing me."

Once he was satisfied with the amount of photos he took, he handed the camera to his wife before placing both his hands on Setsuna's face, smothering her cheeks playfully. "Have fun, honey. Call before you come home, okay?"

She laughed happily, placing her hands on his and leaning her face into his palms. "I will, Papa. Mama, thank you for helping me with my yukata and hair."

Her mother smiled. In that instant, Nijimura could immediately tell whom Setsuna got her charming smile from. "You're welcome, Setsuna. Shuzo-kun, please keep her safe."

Kenji then glared hard at him with cold dark blue eyes as he crossed his arms. "If anything happens to my darling little snowflake, I will come after you, boy."

Standing his ground, Nijimura straightened his posture and just gave a firm nod. "Yes, sir!"

A bit surprised at the fact that he didn't cower away, Kenji gave a satisfied smile. "Finally, a boy who doesn't pussy out when I give 'em a hard time! I like him already! But he's still got a long way to go if he thinks he can take my Setsuna from me!"

"O-Okay, Papa, we get it!" With her face red from embarrassment, Setsuna took a hold of Nijimura's hand and hurriedly walked out. "We'll be going now!"

Once the two of them were out of her house and a good distance away, Nijimura decided to be the one to break the awkward atmosphere around them. "Ahem, well… Your parents seem nice."

* * *

"Bye guys, enjoy the festival!" Setsuna said as she waved to her three friends.

Hana, a rather tall girl with medium length chocolate brown hair, nodded her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You too, Miyana! Let me know if Nijimura does anything to you, alright? I'll make sure the coach intensifies his training."

"Hana-chan! While you are manager for the basketball team and my vice president, I won't let you abuse your power, understood?" An extremely short girl with medium length white hair tied into a low side ponytail scolded in a slightly harsh tone.

The taller girl practically cowered behind her hands. "S-Sorry, Mizuki-senpai… Oh yeah, Miyana, before I forget to send you a text… Remember that we have a girl's day out next week, so keep your schedule free. We'll meet up at your house, Mizuki-senpai?"

Mizuki nodded in response. "Yeah, it's just easier to meet there and have my dad drop us off. Plus, Umi-chan is planning to sleep over my house the night before."

The girl with long black hair, Umi, just smiled. "Might as well! Your parents said I'm welcome over anytime. Ah, but that's beside the point!" Umi smiled rather mischievously as she pushed Mizuki and Hana to leave. "We shouldn't be keeping you from your date, Setsuna. Have fun, you lovebirds!"

Huffing her chest, Setsuna blushed slightly as she looked back at Nijimura. Ignoring Umi's words, she decided to go back to the bench they were sitting on earlier, sitting a bit of distance away from him. "Sorry, I didn't expect to see them here."

Nijimura shook his head understandingly. "It's alright, 'Miyana'."

At the mention of her nickname, Setsuna blushed and slapped his arm. "Stop! You're not allowed to call me that, only Hana-senpai is!"

He laughed as he rubbed the area she hit. "Haha sorry, sorry… Care to explain the nickname though?

After the blush died down from her face, she let out a sigh. "It's a nickname combining the kanji 'Miya' from my family name and the kanji 'na' from my first name, so 'Miyana.' Hana-senpai gave me that nickname after the two of us became best friends and it's a term of endearment, so please don't use it!"

"Don't worry, I already have 'Tsuna' as your name." Nijimura then looked off into the distance where her three friends walked off towards. "Still, I had no idea you were close friends with the president and vice president of student council."

She giggled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Ah, yeah… Well, I've known Mizuki-senpai and Hana-senpai for a few years now. I've known Hana-senpai for longer, but you know how she's vice president _and_ manager of the basketball team… She's just always doing something, so I don't want to bug her when she's busy. And Mizuki-senpai needs to focus on her grades right now since it's her last year and she's planning on going to a good high school."

"I see… Thankfully we won't have to worry about that for another two years." Nijimura commented as he leaned back and stretched his arms.

Setsuna nodded thoughtfully as she got out her phone. Looking down at the screen and scrolling through all the pictures she took today, she let out a small giggle. "Haha, you really need to work on your smiles, Shu! You look so stiff in all these pictures."

He just sighed, crossing his arms while glaring at her slightly. "You know, maybe the pictures would've been better if you _warned_ me beforehand that you would be taking pictures."

Bringing the back of her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing at his statement, she just shook her head and used her other hand to put one finger up. "Okay fine, one nice picture then, please?"

Moving so he was closer to her, Setsuna smiled as she rested her head against his and held her phone out. "Alright, I'm taking it!" Once she snapped the photo, she looked at it and giggled. "I must say, Shu, you actually did look good for this one. I'll send it to you later as a keepsake for tonight."

Shrugging his shoulders, he returned his gaze to the dark sky. "Do what you want, Tsuna."

"Of course!" Following his gaze, she also stared up at the sky. "I want for both of us to have ways to remember all the memories we make together…"

Looking at her out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that she had a rather solemn look on her face. "…Tsuna…?"

A small smile curved onto her lips. "Shu, I enjoy spending time with you a lot. If I have to say it," A single firework was set off, the whistle followed by a loud boom and an explosion of bright colors against the dark sky. "…I really love being with you like this."

At that moment, he was thankful for the myriad fireworks going off so she would look away from him. His eyes went wide and his face was practically on fire from her confession. He had a hard time keeping his eyes on the fireworks, as he would try to sneak peeks at her out of the corner of his eyes.

She was completely awestruck by the fireworks show, her green eyes sparkling and her mouth wide open with awe. The colorful light from the fireworks practically made her glow in his eyes. She looked absolutely beautiful, so much so that he couldn't stop himself from staring at her. As the final firework exploded with a loud boom, he whispered out. "Setsuna, I love you."

Once the colors of the final firework faded away, Setsuna turned towards him while jumping in her seat excitedly. "Wasn't that wonderful, Shu? It was super pretty!"

 _Yeah, pretty… Just like you._

He smiled at her. "Yeah, it was great. Did you enjoy yourself, Tsuna?" Nijimura questioned as he got up from the bench.

Nodding happily, she also got up from her seat. "Of course I did! I'm sad it's over… But now I can just look forward to next year! Will you take me again?"

Stuffing his hands in his pockets as the two of them walked, he nodded. "Of course, I'll take you wherever you want to go."

As the two of them walked home together, he couldn't help but smile. Her happiness was infectious, and the fact that he was the reason for that pretty smile on her face made him proud.

 _But my feelings…_

The longer he stared at Setsuna, the more content he felt with where he was. Honestly, confessing to her would probably cause more harm than good with their relationship. It would be better for both of them to just stay the way they were; best friends who will always be there for each other.

 _I love you, Setsuna Miyamoto…_

But for the sake of keeping their relationship the way it is, he would give up on them. Like the fireworks they saw that day, his feelings for her would fade away and disappear.

* * *

As time passes, things change. The second change for them occurred with three months left of their first year.

For once in their time together, Nijimura was at a complete loss and he wasn't sure what to say or do right now. His fists were tightened and his nails dug into his palms. With a frown on his face, he closed his eyes while his back rested against the side of his bed. Setsuna was curled up into a tiny ball on his bed, wrapped tightly in his blankets as she sobbed quietly.

Setsuna's father, Kenji, was involved in a drunk driving accident and was declared dead on impact. Today was the funeral service, and she came straight to his house once she arrived home. Not a word was said as she walked into his home, not even a kind greeting towards him or his mother. Needless to say, they were both shocked as she just slowly made her way into his room. Yuri told him that Setsuna probably just needed someone to be with her right now, so here he was, staying by her side but not being able to do anything to comfort her.

"…Shu…?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Nijimura leaned his head back to look at her. "What's up? Do you need anything?"

She turned over so he could see her face. There was a frown curving on his lips when he saw the dark circles lining her bloodshot eyes. "Hugs…"

He didn't even hesitate for a second. Without another word, he got on the bed and took the blanket off of her before holding her up in his arms. "This okay for you?"

Setsuna nodded against his shoulder as she slowly brought her own arms up to return the embrace. "Thank you…"

"Don't mention it, I'm here for you." He whispered in a reassuring tone while running his hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her.

The two of them just stayed like that for what seemed like forever. There were no words exchanged between them, it was just a comforting embrace.

Suddenly, Setsuna spoke up in a voice just a hair above a whisper. "…You won't leave me, right?"

He shook his head while bringing a hand up to brush through her short strawberry blonde locks. "I won't ever leave your side, Setsuna. I promise you that I'll always be with you, okay?"

And that was a promise he intended to keep for the rest of his life.

The next day, Nijimura was shocked when he saw Setsuna approach him on his way to school. Despite how much she tried to reassure him that she was okay, it didn't take a genius to know that she was lying.

As the day went by, it become more and more obvious how hard she was pushing herself. In the middle of a lecture, she would sometimes nod off and Nijimura would try his hardest to make sure he could hide her from the teachers so she could avoid getting in trouble. When school ended, she even tried her best to keep up with her responsibilities as class representative, but Nijimura and Sakamoto-sensei both agreed to lessen her workload so she wouldn't have to worry about it. He basically had to work twice as hard today just to make sure she could take it easy. To top it off, he still had to balance basketball, so it was a surprise that he didn't crack from the pressure of balancing so many responsibilities.

However, he knew why he was able to handle all of it.

Nijimura smiled as he walked towards the girl waiting for him outside of the gym. "Hey Tsuna, you ready to go home?"

These walks home at the end of the day were what made these stressful days bearable. Just being able to walk with her and unwind after a long day helped relieve the stress he wasn't able to blow off during basketball and he was thankful for them.

But today was different.

When they finally approached his home, Setsuna had a frown on her face as she stared down at the ground. "Uh, Shu, I…"

Noticing the troubled look on her face, he felt concerned. "Tsuna? What wrong?"

The hands gripping her bag tightened a bit before she looked up at him apologetically. "Sorry, it's just… I…" She paused, biting her lip a bit before continuing. "C-Can you stop walking me home, Shu?"

Her question caught him off guard. As he let her words register in his mind, he was practically in denial. "Huh…? B-But why, Tsuna? You know I don't mind, since we live close by."

She just shook her head before looking up at him with her sweet smile. "It's okay, I just… I just need to be alone!"

"But Tsuna-!" He wasn't fast enough and the fabric of her school blazer slipping through his fingers before he could grab onto them to stop her. With a frown and sad look in his eyes, he just stood there with his arm outstretched.

 _Did I do something wrong…?_

Now that he thought about it, maybe she just needed time to really cope about what happened with her father. She didn't really give herself a break from school even after the funeral happened, so this might just be something temporary.

 _Yeah, that's it._

He nodded to reassure himself. This was good for her and she needs time to cope over her father's death. After she could properly cope, she would come back to him and everything would go back to normal.

Like Nijimura hoped, Setsuna didn't come to school the next day. He felt a sense of relief, however, there was one girl who didn't feel same sense of relief as him.

"Nijimura, I need to ask you something."

Despite the fact she slammed her hands on the top of his desk, he didn't jump up from surprise. Instead, he looked up at her rather calmly despite how harshly she was glaring at him. "Yes, Hana-senpai?"

The angry glare in her cerulean blue eyes only intensified. "You walked home with Miyana yesterday, right? Was she okay?"

"Oh, I didn't walk her home yesterday… She walked home on her own." Confused as to why she was asking him, Nijimura raised a brow. "Any reason you're asking?"

She shook her head, her chocolate brown hair swaying slightly at the movement. "No… It's nothing you need to be concerned with, I was just asking. Don't forget to come to practice today." With that, she bowed her head to bid him farewell before walking out of the classroom.

After that day, Nijimura couldn't help but feel concerned. An entire week had passed and Setsuna didn't show up for school. Despite the numerous messages he sent her, she barely replied back to him. He even went as far as to visit Setsuna's home, only to have her mother not let him in because she came down with a really bad sickness and it would be a few days until she could return to school.

 _It's been over a week now… Would she be better now?_

As he walked into class that day, his eyes widened and a relieved smile curving on his lips when he saw a familiar face sitting in the seat behind him.

Hana, who was leaning against Setsuna's desk, smiled kindly as she brushed Setsuna's bangs out of her face. "Well, I should head back to my class before the bell rings. You let me know if you need anything, alright? If you can't find me, you can go to Mizuki-senpai, alright?"

Setsuna nodded with a soft smile on her face. "I will, Hana-senpai. Thank you for everything."

The older girl smiled before pushing herself off her desk and placing her hands on her hips. "I'll see you later then, Miyana."

As Hana walked past Nijimura, she shot him with a slight glare before leaving the classroom. He couldn't help but think the action was a bit odd, but he brushed it off and turned his attention to Setsuna. "Welcome back, Tsuna. How are you feeling?"

Turning her attention towards him, she shot him a bright smile. "I'm feeling a lot better now. It sucked being sick for that entire week… Did you manage okay without me?"

As he sat into his chair, he pouted and looked away from her playfully. "Sure. If anything, Sakamoto-sensei seemed ecstatic to make me do all the work. You owe me one, Tsuna."

Stifling a giggle with the back of her hand, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Shu. How about I make it up to you by making you bentos for an entire week?"

Seeing her smile after all this time was worth all the waiting and work he had endured without her. Knowing that she was finally back to her normal self put all his anxiety to rest.

* * *

Their first year had quickly come to an end without any more problems. Soon enough, their second year came. They were once again put in the same class but opted out of becoming class representatives this year due to their busier schedules. They would still go to their respective sports clubs and walk home together after school. A small tradition they had developed was to stop by their favorite convenient shop to pick up drinks and snacks before heading to Nijimura's house to hang out or study. But as the first few months of their second year went by, things changed again.

"My mother wants me quit tennis and wants me to go straight home after school." Setsuna said with a frown while looking at him with apologetic eyes.

He shook his head, giving her the nicest smile he could muster. "No, I understand, your mom is just looking out for you. And I don't mind, just make sure you're safe, alright? You can call me if anything happens, I'll drop practice to come get you."

Flustered, she brought her hands up to wave them in front of herself. "N-No, don't do that! Your team needs you! And don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

He brought up his hand to pet her strawberry blonde hair. "We're best friends, Tsuna, so I'm always gonna worry about you irregardless. So go on, I don't mind. Just text me when you make it home."

With that, the two of them parted. When she was out of sight, Nijimura walked back onto the court and he looked around with a glare. "Oi, where's Haizaki?!"

"Haizaki said he wasn't feeling well, so he went home early." One of his teammates responded.

Nijimura sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'll have to talk to him about this the next time I see him… He shouldn't be missing practice this much."

Later that day, somewhere in town, Haizaki yawned as he walked out of the arcade. It was getting late and he figured it would be a good time to head home without the risk of anyone from the basketball club seeing him, especially that annoying captain of his.

As he walked, a short hooded figure bumped into him and ran off without apologizing. Annoyed, Haizaki quickly got a hold of the back of that person's hoodie and pulled them to face him. His hand tightly gripped their collar and his other fist was pulled back to prepare for a punch. "Oi, you think you can just get away with something like tha-"

He stopped when he got a good look at the person's face. A sinister smile began to curve on his lips as he released his grip on their collar. "Well look what we have here…" The person fell to the ground with a thud and groaned in slight pain before looking up at Haizaki with fear in their eyes. "I think I've found something interesting…"

* * *

Though he knew he said those things to reassure Setsuna in her decision, Nijimura knew himself that he was feeling lonely ever since then. The feeling he had was similar to that time Setsuna had come down with that sickness and couldn't come to school for an entire week. Perhaps because he was so used to having her around, the feeling of her not being around him made him feel twice as lonely. Sure, he had friends besides Setsuna, but he didn't have the same connection with them as he did with her.

Topped with the fact that none of his friends lived in the same area as he did, he had no other choice but to walk home alone. As he walked the same route he took with Setsuna, he couldn't help but feel that the sidewalk felt larger without her walking alongside him. Once he made it home and settled into his room to begin doing homework, he would often open up his phone every half hour or so to check for anything from her. "Tsuna… I miss you…"

He continued to stare up his phone. The background he had was the last picture that Setsuna took of the two of them during the fireworks festival. The honest reason he made that his phone background was because of how much they looked like a couple… And God forbid anyone ever finds out that he set this as his background.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his hand and a message notification popped up on the screen. His eyes widened as he read the text.

 _From: Tsuna_

 _Hey Shu, I'm sorry we haven't been able to spend much time with each other like we used to. Tomorrow, after you finish practice, I was wondering if you could help me with something._

Nijimura didn't even wait for a second as he quickly hit the reply button and typed out his response.

 _From: Shu_

 _It's alright, Tsuna. Of course I'm happy to help. Just remind me and I'll see you then. I can't wait to see you, I really mis-_

"…No wait, I shouldn't tell her that I miss her…" Nijimura shook his head as he quickly deleted the last sentence before sending it. He didn't want to make her feel guilty about them not seeing each other as much.

The next day, when practice was over and everything was cleaned up, Nijimura quickly ran towards the gym's exit to see Setsuna sitting there. "Sorry to keep you waiting. So, what's up?"

Getting up, she faced him and used the towel she was holding onto to wipe his face. "First, wipe your face. You're drenched in sweat and I wouldn't want you getting sick. Second…" She paused to look down at the ground for a few seconds before looking him back in the eye. "The thing I need your help with… It's more like I need you to help me find someone… You see, he's on the basketball team, so that's why I came to you."

After draping the towel over his neck, he cocked his head to the side. "Do you know his name? Hopefully he hasn't left yet so I can go get him…"

Nervously picking at the end of her skirt, her emerald green eyes shifted around as she gave a small smile. His eyes narrowed at her expression.

 _Why does your smile looking forced, Tsuna?_

"Um, his name… It's Shougo Haizaki-kun." She muttered out nervously.

 _She knows Haizaki…? Is he harassing her or something?_

Nijimura's glare hardened as he placed one of his hands on her shoulders. "Tsuna, what about him? Is Haizaki giving you a hard time?"

"Huh? Did someone call my name?"

The two of them flinched. Nijimura looked over his shoulder to see Haizaki standing behind them. Noticing how Setsuna kept her eyes glued to the ground, Nijimura shot the light gray haired teen a harsh glare. "What are you doing here, Haizaki?"

Haizaki just shrugged indifferently as he walked down so he stood right by Setsuna. "I was just about to head home, that's all. But then I heard you two saying my name, so I decided to cut in. So…" He turned his attention to Setsuna, who practically flinched when she felt his eyes on her. "You wanted to talk to me, Setsuna?"

If looks could kill, the look Nijimura had on his face would murder anyone at first sight. "Haizaki! She's your upperclassman! Show some respect!"

His eyes widened when Setsuna calmly placed a hand against his chest as if she was trying to stop him. "Shu, please…"

Nijimura looked down at her and let out a defeated sigh before backing away one step and returning his harsh glare to Haizaki.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about, Setsuna?" Haizaki spoke in a condescending tone. Occasionally, he would peek over at Nijimura out of the corner of his eye with a confident smirk on his face.

The fact Haizaki was using Setsuna's given name just to spite him made Nijimura's blood boil even more.

Ignoring their harsh glares to each other, Setsuna nodded her head but her gaze remained glued to the ground and her fingers intertwined with each other. "Yes, I… You see, the thing is… I have important something I want to tell you, Haizaki-kun. Can we talk in private? S-So it can be just the two of us…?"

 _Just what the hell is going on here…? Tsuna, why do you look so scared…?_

He doesn't know why, but something about this entire situation just didn't sit right with him. There were just so many things going on and he wasn't sure what to question first; the fact that Setsuna and Haizaki knew each other without him knowing or the fact that Setsuna wanted to talk privately with Haizaki of all people.

Haizaki shook his head and gave her an annoyed look. "Just tell me now if it's so important. I can't wait all day, you know!"

His harsh tone made Setsuna flinch. "It's that I… I…"

His glare became more heated as she continued to stutter nervously. "Spit it out already!"

Already pulling up his sleeve, Nijimura was ready to punch him if he continued giving her a hard time. However, the next thing she said caught him off guard and he could only stand there, his dark gray eyes wide with shock and his mouth slightly agape.

"I like you, Haizaki-kun! I want to become your girlfriend!"

When those words left her mouth, Nijimura felt something in him shatter.

 _What…? Why is she confessing to Haizaki? She barely knows him! She always rejected confessions because she wasn't ready for a relationship… When did that all change?_

Or rather… Why didn't he notice this change?

Nijimura's arms fell limply at his side. Once he regained the ability to move, his nails dug into the palm of his hand and his teeth grinding together while he bit back the tears that threatened to fall as he watched Haizaki tilt Setsuna's chin up before bending down to kiss the girl he loved right in front of him.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (January 3 2017): Heavily edited. Pacing of entire chapter changed from the original.

Fun Facts for this chapter:  
-Yes, we got cameos of younger Mizuki and Umi. For reference, Mizuki is two years older than Setsuna, meaning she's a third year while Setsuna is a first year. Since Umi is a year younger than Setsuna, she isn't attending Teiko yet.  
-The fireworks scene was inspired by the final episode of Nozaki-kun. (aka what helped me get out of my writer's block)

Alright, now I'm getting to my favorite part of this story. I'm personally very excited for this.

If anyone's interested, follow me on tumblr! Same username, Ari Yukimoto. I make posts immediately after I post a new chapter, I have character profiles posted there for reference of my OCs (Mizuki, Umi, Kou, Setsuna, Hikari, etc.), and I also leave the ask box open for anyone that wants to ask a question (I accept anon questions too!) regarding any of my stories. This is for the people without a fanfiction account or if you can't contact me through PM.

I will come back and fix mistakes that I missed. I'm sorry, mistakes really love to avoid me during editing.

Finally, thanks to all the readers and followers of this story. I can't believe this story has come so far within the past month and a half. Please continue to show support for this story by reviewing, favoriting, or following. Help me get the review count into the double digits, I'm one away from reaching ten! Haha! I hope to hear from you guys.

-Ari


	7. Longing Chapter Three

**Note from the author: The story from here onward goes over the subject of relationship abuse. For those of you sensitive to this topic, you have been warned.**

* * *

" _You made her cry again, you coward. You who messed with my love… This is war."_

 _-MBLAQ (This is War)_

Nijimura felt so betrayed…

 _I'm her best friend, aren't I…?_

That thought ran through his mind alongside the many memories he and Setsuna shared together.

 _I thought I was the person who knew her the most…_

He remembered how the two of them would walk home together practically everyday.

 _Setsuna, when did you start leaving me out of your life…?_

His entire body was cold and unmoving as he continued to watch the kiss between Haizaki and Setsuna.

 _What the hell happened to not being ready for a relationship?_

It was a given that after Haizaki and Setsuna began dating, Nijimura's friendship with his best friend began to crumble. He wasn't entirely sure if it was because he was bitter towards their relationship or if he was angry towards Setsuna for not telling him about her true feelings.

 _All this time, I thought you weren't interested in dating anyone… I thought I would be one of the first people you tell if you ever started having feelings towards someone. Setsuna, I thought you trusted me…!_

Nijimura was honestly so distraught over the situation that he ended up walking to school on his own instead of waiting for Setsuna like he usually would. He felt he was probably being a bit immature towards the situation, but he had the right to after feeling betrayed by the person he claimed to be his "best friend."

"Good morning, Shu!" Setsuna greeted him happily with a bright smile as she set her bag on her desk. "I was waiting to walk to school with you, but you weren't showing up so I just decided to go… But I am glad to see that you made it!"

 _Why are you talking to me so normally?_

Then again, he doesn't really have the right to act bitterly towards her… It's not like he made his previous feelings for her obvious…

Nijimura responded by looking at her and nodding. "Y-Yeah, morning Miyamoto… I just, uh… Felt like walking on my own- Huh? What's wrong?"

Setsuna's emerald green eyes were wide with surprise before she looked down to the ground. "O-Oh… No, it's just…" She bit her lower lip before shaking her head. "Uh… You know what, forget about it…"

With that, their conversation came to an awkward end. This routine of awkward attempts at conversation with each other continued for a week but ultimately ended the same way every time. Before he knew it, Setsuna's affectionate nickname for him slowly reverted back to "Nijimura." After about an entire month, they didn't even greet each other in the morning or spare a glance towards each other unless necessary. Their friendship was no more, and the two reverted back to strangers.

However, avoiding each other became harder when basketball practice ended. Apparently, Haizaki noticed their broken friendship and decided to rub salt in the wounds.

"Are you ready to go, Haizaki?"

By having Setsuna wait for him after practice.

Haizaki nodded as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, let's get going, _Tsuna._ "

As the couple walked away, Nijimura glared daggers in Haizaki's direction.

"You're gonna get wrinkles if you keep your brow furrowed like that."

He jumped from surprise before looking over his shoulder at the person approaching him from behind. "Hana-senpai…"

She stopped when she stood next to him. "You know, you're not accomplishing anything by standing on the sidelines. You know Haizaki's just doing all this just to spite you, yet you're doing nothing about it."

Nijimura couldn't deny the truth behind her words. With a frown, he tightened his hand into a fist at his side. "I just… It's not easy to keep being her friend while she's dating him…"

"…Hey, answer this question for me, okay?" She questioned in a demanding tone.

In response, he chuckled. "It's not like you're giving me a choice there."

Hana rolled her eyes at him. "So tell me, what are you feelings towards Miyana?"

When he turned to face Hana completely, he shrugged his shoulders. "What do you mean? Like what kind of feelings are you insinuating?"

Letting out an exhausted sigh, she scratched the back of her head. "Just any feeling in general, like what's the first feeling that comes up in your mind when you think about Miyana?"

After she said that, the words just flowed naturally. "I just… I care a lot about her. When I worked together with her during my first year, I was able to observe her a lot and noticed how lonely she really was despite all the friends she had. Her so-called friends bullied her behind her back, yet she was completely okay with it because she didn't want to end up by herself…" At this point, he thought back on the rainy day during their first year. "So I decided to do something nice for her for a change. I guess that one act of kindness made her look past my reputation, and she ended up befriending me. In a weird way, we saved each other from our loneliness, so that's why I…"

 _Care for her…? No, that doesn't sound quite right…_

Nijimura bit his lower lip as he tried to think of the right word. "I…"

At this point, Hana was getting a bit frustrated so she decided to put the words into his mouth. "That's why you love her, isn't it?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah, I love her…"

 _Wait… **WHAT?**_

The reality of what he said hit him hard and his face turned completely red. "NO! Uh shit, I-I mean I don't _like_ her, w-well I mean I like her as a friend… I-I'm not saying she's not _cute_ or anything like that because she's _really_ cute and I…" He then let out a defeated sigh. "I'm… I'm not sounding convincing at all, am I?"

Hana just shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Not at all. I mean, I had a feeling you were in love with her, but I didn't think you were in denial about it."

Nijimura shook his head as he let out a frustrated sigh. "I just… I thought I gave up on her, so I kept saying that I care for her, but… The word 'love' just felt right…"

Staring at him, Hana just brought a hand up to his shoulder in a surprisingly comforting manner. "Miyana kept rejecting guys, so you were afraid that she'd reject you if you ever confessed. You decided to keep lying to yourself so you could stay by her side, but then she went and asked out Haizaki, and you hated it." This was when Hana had a confident smirk on her face. "So? How'd I do with guessing the story?"

He had heard rumors about Hana being able to read people, but he didn't believe it until now. "How the hell did you figure it out?"

The confident smirk on her face became playful as she winked at him. "It's written all over your face, that's why. But anyway, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about… I actually have a reason for asking you that."

Nijimura raised a single brow in confusion. "Something to ask me? It's rare of you to ask favors from anyone, Hana-senpai…" When he made that comment, he noticed the serious look in her eyes and sighed. "So what is it?"

"…Do you want to fix things between you and Miyana?"

She didn't even have to wait for him to reply, as the answer was clearly written in his eyes.

* * *

"Haizaki! I waited for you, just like you asked!" Setsuna chimed happily, looking excitedly at him like a puppy.

Seeing her, Haizaki smiled while putting his arm around the small girl. "What a good girl you are, Setsuna. I should reward you!"

Her eyes lit up slightly in anticipation. "Really?"

Nodding, he walked around her to stand in front of her. Raising his hand above his head, he slapped her across the face hard enough to knock her to the ground. "Don't get your hopes up, you little bitch. You're far from being my ideal woman, so be thankful I even agreed to date you in the first place!"

She struggled to push herself off the ground. Despite the stinging feeling on her cheek and small amount of blood coming from the small cut in the corner of her mouth, her smile didn't falter. Noticing this, Haizaki's foot made contact with her stomach and she coughed. Again, despite the pain, she continued to smile. "O-Of course… M-My mistake… Forgive me."

He smiled with satisfaction while shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm going to hang out with a hot babe I met yesterday. Don't follow me around, got it?"

A few minutes passed after Haizaki walked away from her. Even after he left, she still remained on the ground. Her smile had faded, but her expression remained kind as she wiped away the blood with the back of her hand, smearing red along her jaw.

When Nijimura saw the scene play out in front of him, he felt numb. He had heard from Hana what was going on between these two, but didn't believe it until now.

After Haizaki was completely gone, Nijimura quickly walked up to Setsuna and held a hand out to her. "Hey, get up."

Looking up, her eyes widened as she saw the face of her old best friend. "Nijimura…?" Despite the slight anger that showed on his features, the way he looked right into her eyes let her know that he was being sincere. The gesture made her smile genuinely despite the pain in her stomach and face and she slowly brought her hand up to grasp his.

Nijimura closed his eyes before looking at her and pulling her up to her feet. Before she could pull her hand away, he gripped her hand tightly as he thought of what to say next.

"N-Nijimura, what-"

"I don't mean to seem rude," He interrupted as he loosened his grip slightly. While still holding onto her hand, he looked at her straight in the eye. "But can I ask why you're dating Haizaki?"

He could feel her palm sweating against his. Her gaze was glued to the ground so that her eyes were hidden from his view, but he could see her mouth open slightly as if she was trying to figure out what words to say. Griping his hand back, she looked up at him with the same smile that still makes his heart race like it did months ago. "I'm dating Haizaki-kun because he's someone who will love me unconditionally."

 _What kind of love is this though?_

Nijimura thought bitterly. His dark grey eyes narrowed as he stared at her bruising cheek and the blood that smeared the corner of her mouth. He didn't let go of her hand and just dragged her with him. "C'mon."

"Eh? Huh? N-Nijimura, what are you doing?" She questioned with slight panic in her tone as she tried to keep up with his strides.

He just continued to walk forward, not looking back at her as he replied. "My house."

Once they arrived at his house, he told her to go up to his room while he got an ice pack ready. Once he came up to his room, he saw Setsuna sitting on his bed with a nostalgic look on her face as her gaze wandered around his room. "…It's been a while since I've been in here… Nothing much has changed, I see… Wait!" Leaning over so she could look under his bed, letting out a giggle before she popped her head back up. "I take that back, you changed where you hide your porn magazines."

Despite the heavy atmosphere that surrounded them earlier, he couldn't help but find her antics funny.

 _Thank God, she's still able to smile like that…_

He snorted before glaring at her playfully. "I've never owned porn magazines to begin with. You do realize I have a mother that enjoys making fun of me on a daily basis, right? I don't need to give her another thing to poke fun at."

"Speaking of her… Where is she?" She asked curiously as Nijimura pressed the ice pack to her bruised cheek. "AHH, that's _cold!_ Where's the warning?!"

"You don't get one!" He laughed before sitting next to her and setting the first aid kit in between them. Once she took the ice pack from his hand, he opened the first aid kit and began to dig through it. "As for my mom, she's at the hospital."

Emerald green eyes widened and she leaned forward. Setsuna's expression was full of disbelief. "Eh? Why? Is your mom okay?! Or is it one of your siblings?! Or a family member?! Did someone get hurt?! What happened?! Will everything be okay?!"

Nijimura chuckled a bit at her stream of questions as he wiped away the blood coming from the small wound. She would always ask too many questions whenever she was worried, and he was happy to see that Haizaki didn't change this cute habit of hers. "Actually, my father is actually in the hospital again…His illness was apparently something worse than what the doctor's originally thought, so they had him go back."

"…I-I see… I'm so sorry to hear that…" She looked down, but he could tell she had a rather sad look in her eyes considering what happened to her own father during their first year. He even noticed the hand she had pressed against his bed tighten into a small fist. Closing his eyes, he placed a hand on her head and stroked the top of her head gently. The gesture caused her to look up with wide eyes. "Nijimu-"

He cut her off by placing a finger against her lips. "Stop right there." Once he was sure that she would be silent, he pulled his finger away and decided to answer the question that was written all over her face. Sighing, he turned his head to the side so he could avoid having her see the slight blush on his cheeks. "Don't call me that… It makes me feel like we've gone back to being strangers, and I don't want that."

Setsuna was silently staring at him with wide eyes. Her lips then pressed together as small tears pricked her eyes and began to fall from the corners. "R-Really…?"

Nijimura nodded. "Of course. Honestly, I feel bad because I was the one that pushed you away… I didn't intend to, I just… I just didn't think that you wanted to hang around me anymore because you're dating Haizaki." He knew he was lying, but he doesn't want to admit his feelings for her while she's in a relationship. "So you see, Miyamoto, I-" He cut himself off and his eyes widened when he caught sight of the tears heavily streaming down her face. "H-Hey, what are _you_ crying for?!"

Sniffling, she frowned as she used her free hand to wipe away her tears. "I-I'm sorry! I honestly don't know, I… I'm just so happy right now." After her eyes were clear of tears and she saw the look of confusion on his face, she smiled with relief. "It's just that… Ever since I started to date Haizaki, you started calling me 'Miyamoto' instead of 'Tsuna' and I thought I did something wrong! I would want to talk to you, but your eyes looked so hesitant every time I was around you… I-I just thought that you hated me all this time…"

Shaking his head violently from side to side, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, I never hated you! I…"

 _Just hate that you're dating Haizaki and not me._

Nijimura bit his tongue to keep his thoughts from spilling out of his mouth carelessly. "Y-You know, Haizaki and I aren't exactly on good terms…"

She frowned as she removed the ice pack from her cheek. "…I know… But I don't want my relationship with Haizaki to get in the way of our friendship. I-I mean, only if you're okay with it…"

He hated whenever she did that, mostly because she did it without realizing it. She would try to make it seem like she would be okay with whatever choice he made, but she would always have the signature puppy dog look in her eyes. Nijimura especially hated it, because he just couldn't say no to that face. "O-Only if you're alright with it, Tsuna…"

"Of course, Niji-" She stopped herself, shaking her head before smiling at him. "Shu!"

After finally hearing that name from her after all this time, his heart fluttered in his chest happily.

* * *

"Well, good to see you're not depressed and shit anymore. Now you can finally focus your all on basketball." Hana commented with a laugh as she walked with him.

Nijimura nodded. "I really have to thank you, Hana-senpai… I honestly didn't know she missed me too."

Hana then snorted before playfully punching his shoulder. "It's because you're too damn dense. Well anyway, I gotta head home now. I'll see you at practice tomorrow!"

After she walked off, Nijimura finished packing up his bag so he could also leave. Once he slung his bag over his shoulder, he walked out of the gym, but then something caught his eyes and he quickly hid behind a wall.

 _…Oh great, this again…_

Nijimura frowned as he watched Setsuna run up to Haizaki. She was panting a bit as she held out a can to him. "H… Haizaki, here's the drink you asked me to get for you!"

Taking the can into his hand and looking it over, his eyes narrowed at the can before shifting his angry glare in her direction. "Hey, this isn't what I asked for! Are you fucking stupid?"

She had look on her face that was a mix of scared and apologetic. "I-It's not the one you asked for?"

"Of course not! I hate this shit!" Eyeing the can, he then looked up at her and smiled rather sinisterly. "It'd be a shame if this went to waste though, right Tsuna?"

Her eyes widened when she heard the hiss of the can opening. She was about to protest, but she decided to press her lips together and shut her eyes tightly. With a single nod of her head, she braced herself. "Y-Yes, it would be…"

He chuckled as he held the can high above her head. "Glad we came to an understanding."

With those words, Haizaki tilted the can over and the contents poured all over her. The drink left trails of sticky liquid all over her exposed skin and soaked into her uniform. Once the can was empty, he shook it a bit to let it all drip out on top of her. When he was sure that the can was completely empty, he held the back of her head in what looked like a comforting way, but Nijimura knew better than to assume Haizaki would do something kind. The gray haired teen just smirked as he crushed the can against her forehead before throwing it aside and letting it fall to the ground. Wiping away what was on her face, she looked at him while shaking her head. "Why…?"

"Hah?" Haizaki growled while reaching for her collar so he could pull her figure towards himself. He stared down into her bright green eyes with a heated glare. "Don't think I don't know, Setsuna. Don't forget that you belong to me now, and you can't run away from that, no matter how hard you try."

Her eyes widened at his statement, but before she could say anything back to him, he shoved her away and walked away as she landed on the ground with a loud thud. "W-Wait, Haizaki…! What do you…?"

She tried to reach out and stop him, but he was already too far.

Only when he was absolutely sure Haizaki was gone did Nijimura go to her. "Tsuna!"

Turning towards the direction of his voice, she smiled with relief when her eyes met his. "Shu…!"

Once he was at her side and got a good look at her, he frowned as he eyed the patch of purple skin. "Shit, you've got a huge bruise on your forehead… Dammit, c'mon, let's wipe all that juice off of you first. Ugh, and the gym is already closed… You think you can manage in a dirty uniform until we get to my house?"

After he pulled her to her feet, he quickly made his way back to the water fountain with her in tow. "Y-Yeah! Oh, but my school uniform… What am I going to do? We have school tomorrow and my spare isn't clean."

"Worry about that later!" Nijimura scolded as he the two of them finally made it to a water fountain. Digging through his bag, he pulled out a spare towel that he didn't use today and began to soak one side with water. "Alright, come here, I'll wipe it off for you."

Before she could complain, he wiped off the juice residue from her face then he let her clean up the other areas. After she was a bit more clean, the two of them decided to head to his house so she could take a shower and change out of her school uniform.

"Tsuna, I put your clothes in the wash, but it'll take a while…" He words then trailed off as he walked into his room. With wide eyes, he stared at Setsuna as she sat on his bed.

Placing the towel on her head so she could dry her hair, she smiled at him. "I'm sorry you always have to take care of me, Shu… Thank you."

 _She's cute…_

He couldn't help but think that as he got a good look of her wearing his clothes. In order to regain his composure, he shook his head before using the towel on her head to dry her head. "Stop apologizing for stuff like that, Tsuna. I already told you that I don't mind taking care of you."

She giggled when he pulled away the towel and her hair puffed up from the friction. "You're so kind, Shu. I guess being team captain has changed you a bit."

Nijimura raised a brow as he got a hair brush and ran it through her hair to loosen the tangles. "Am I different?"

Humming a small tune, she nodded slightly. "Just a little. You were always very kind before, but now you've mellowed out and I've noticed that you don't get into as many fights as you used to. It makes me really happy."

He was thankful she faced away from him so she wouldn't see his blush. "W-Whatever. There, I'm done. Did you want anything to eat?"

"Fried rice? We can share it." She offered, knowing full well of his love for fried rice.

Getting up from his bed, he nodded. "Alright alright, I got it. I'll go make it, so you just relax and put that ice pack against your head, got it?"

Bringing the ice pack up to her bruised forehead with one hand, she used her other hand to salute. "Yes sir!"

Once he finished cooking, thankfully not burning it this time, he set the pan in the middle of his dining table and set up two plates next to each other. Taking off the pink frilled apron his mother and sister bought for him, he set it aside before heading back up to his room.

"Tsuna, it's done. Let's eat before it gets cold- Hm?" He noticed that she was resting on his bed, the shirt she borrowed from him riding up so that a bit of her stomach showed. Chuckling, he walked towards her with his hands on his hips. "Tsuna, you should cover up pro… perly…"

Nijimura's eyes narrowed as he noticed a small patch of discolored skin where her skin was exposed.

 _Why is it yellow…?_

To quell his suspicions, he gently took a hold of the edge of her shirt with two fingers and shifted it up to expose more of her stomach. His eyes widened and a hand flew to his mouth to prevent himself from making any noise. Her pale skin was littered with newly formed dark red and purple bruises, yellow bruises that seemed to be in the process of healing, and faded dark spots from bruises that already have healed. He felt his heart sink in his chest and a cold sweat run down the back of his neck at the myriad of thoughts running in his head before he put two and two together.

Nijimura's brows furrowed together and his teeth grinding against each other in anger. His fists tightened at his sides, enough that his nails dug into his palms painfully. His words coated in venom. "Haizaki…!"

* * *

After practice ended that day, Nijimura knew what he was going to do.

But he couldn't believe that he was so stupid.

 _Nijimura walked into the room, holding two teacups in his hands. "Did you want anything else to drink?"_

 _Quickly, she pulled down the clean shirt he lent her and placed the ice pack he gave her earlier on her head before turning towards him with a smile. "No thank you, tea is just fine. Thank you, Shu!"_

Why didn't he notice until now?

" _Tsuna, you do realize I have seen you in your underwear before, right? Why are you suddenly paranoid about it now?" He questioned playfully as he tried to open the door._

 _The door didn't even open an inch before Setsuna quickly pressed her body against it to slam it shut before she locked it. "You may be one of my best friends, but you're still a guy! And when did you see me in my underwear?! You pervert!"_

 _He chuckled before leaning his back against the door. "First year summer beach trip?"_

 _Hearing her laughter from the other side made him smile. "Oh my god, Shu… Bikinis and underwear are two very different things!"_

Just how long has she been hiding these injuries from him?

" _Ow!" Setsuna flinched when her hip bumped against the corner of the table as she tried to sit down. With small tears in her eyes, she glared at the corner as she gently rubbed the area._

 _He chuckled as he lowered his book. "Oh come on, Tsuna. You're the girl that took a badly passed basketball to the face and didn't even cry! Now you're shedding a few tears over bumping against a table? Are you telling me you're getting squishy?"_

 _Her mouth hung open as she stared at him like he said the most offensive thing to her. "Excuse me, are you saying I'm getting_ fat _? How dare you! And is it really my fault that purple maiubo titan didn't catch that ball?!"_

 _Nijimura snorted at the nickname she gave to his teammate. "Really? Purple maiubo titan? Do you have nicknames for everyone on my team?"_

 _She shot him a dorky smile. "Of course! Well, I do have nicknames for those talented first years, at least… Green mummy fingers, red mother hen, blue basketball beast, and light blue tiny ghost. Oh, don't tell them that I call them that… I don't want to offend any of them."_

 _He couldn't stop himself from bursting out into laughter._

He wished he noticed sooner…

 _Was Haizaki the reason why she was hiding this from me? Why was this happening? Why is she always the victim?_

So many questions ran through his mind as he ran out of the gym locker room.

Nijimura slowed his pace when he spotted the spiky, gray haired teen at the exit of the gym. Panting heavily from his run, he could feel the sweat running down his temples as his fists shook in anticipation. There was a familiar feeling of adrenaline ran through his veins as he ran to close the distance between the two of them.

It all happened so fast.

"Haizaki!"

It was like a blur. Before Nijimura realized it, his could feel his fist making contact with Haizaki's face. The force of the punch was enough to make the gray haired teen stumble back.

Placing a hand over his cheek, Haizaki shot him a glare before getting into a stance. "You're gonna pay for that, asshole!"

When Haizaki ran towards him, things seemed to go in slow motion as Nijimura swiftly evaded his punch. At that moment, he could see every little movement Haizaki made. Ducking to evade another punch, Nijimura connected a solid jab to his stomach and stepped in for an uppercut to his jaw.

"Hey! Nijimura, stop!"

Ignoring the voice calling out to him, he took Haizaki's collar in one hand and used the other to pull back for another punch.

"Shu! Haizaki! Stop it!"

Hearing Setsuna's voice caught him off guard and he stopped himself before his fist made contact. Noticing this, Haizaki used this distraction as a chance to kick Nijimura in the stomach. This just fueled the anger in both of them, the two of them continuing to throw punches at each other until they were both covered in bruises. Panting heavily as they stood in front of each other, two two boys stared each other down with nothing but hate in their eyes. At the same time, they both pulled back their fists to get another punch in.

"Stop it…!"

Nijimura's eyes widened when he felt his arm being pulled back and saw Setsuna run into Haizaki. The small girl wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest as she pushed his back against the outside wall of the gym. Once Haizaki was still in her arms, the pair slowly fell to the ground. She sobbed into his chest and shook her head slowly from side to side. "Haizaki… Please stop… Stop fighting…"

Haizaki just stared down at the girl with furrowed brows for a few moments before clicking his tongue and looking away from her. Wrapping an arm around her, he gently caressed the back of her head. "Whatever… Stop with the waterworks already, you're soaking my shirt, stupid."

She pulled away from him, sniffling as she hastily wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "O-Okay, I'm sorry."

Turning around to see who held him back, Nijimura's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the face of the current student council president. "Hana-senpai…"

Hana just sighed before releasing his arm. "Look, you idiots are lucky that a teacher didn't catch you guys. Now, I'll keep quiet about this from the teachers if you guys get out of here and don't cause anymore trouble, alright?"

Getting off the ground, Haizaki just shrugged and walked off with his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Whatever, Prez. C'mon Tsuna, let's go."

"Ah, coming!" After getting up and dusting off her skirt, she looked at the two of them and bowed her head. "Sorry that you both had to deal with that. I'll see you both next week!"

When Setsuna ran off and was out of sight, Nijimura looked over at the girl next to him. "Usually you would have jumped on an opportunity to get me into trouble, Hana-senpai. What exactly are you up to?"

Peeking over at him, Hana then turned her head and stared right into his eyes. "…You're a fucking idiot."

Her response caught him off guard, and not in a good way. Nijimura glared at her harshly. "Excuse me? I was just trying to help-"

"That's not what I'm talking about, moron! I'm talking about Miyana!" She yelled, her glare surprisingly harsh despite the cool blue tone of her eyes. "Even though I helped you two become friends again and got you to admit that you're in love with her, why the _fuck_ is she still together with Haizaki?!"

He didn't understand why she was angry. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Hana's teeth clenched together angrily. "Hey Bakamura, you claimed to be her best friend, right?! You admitted you're in love with her, _right?!_ " At this point, she was angry enough to walk up to him and grasp the front of his collar with both of her hands. "Then tell me this… Why the fuck are you letting the girl you love continue to be _physically abused_ by her shitty fucking boyfriend?!"

He returned her glare. "I'm not gonna go and confess my feelings to her while she's already in a relationship! I just fixed my friendship with her and I don't want this friendship to fall apart because of my feelings!"

When he said that, Hana's eyes widened and the grip she had on him loosened. "…You know, there's a reason I helped you two become friends again…" The hate returned to her eyes and her grip tightened. "Now that you two are friends again, you've seen what he's done to her! You know what's going on! So why haven't you done anything about it? Do you really enjoy watching her suffer like this?! Or what, are you going to wait until this completely ruins her?"

Nijimura responded by ripping her hands off of his blazer, taking a few steps back. "I've been doing what I can to support her! Never once has she complained about being with him! I…" His lips pressed together tightly as both his hands tightened into fists. "I… just want to see her happy. And she's happy while being with him… So I'll continue to be her support for the sake of her happiness."

"But guess what, asshat! Miyana isn't fucking happy with him!" The girl had her gaze glued to his as she continued to yell. "I helped you two become friends again because I thought you would realize just how fucked up this is and you would do something! Ugh, I seriously can't believe you… She doesn't deserve to go through this shit and you know it! Fuck, to think I had some respect for you for beating up Haizaki…" Hana's fists clenched at her sides and her entire body began to shake slightly. "…Just help her… Please…"

His eyes widened as Hana wiped away small tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "…Hana-senpai…"

Shaking her head, Hana closed the distance between them and placed both of her hands on his shoulders. "I don't care if Miyana thinks I'm being the bad guy for telling her to leave Haizaki… I don't care if you're the one being her knight in shining armor… Just…" The small tears finally began to fall from her eyes as she stared right at him with sorrow-filled cerulean blue eyes. "…I just can't wait around for things to get better."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (January 3 2017): Drastic changes to certain scenes in comparison to the previous version.

I know I posted this chapter before, but I decided to delete it because this version is heavily edited from the original version since I completely rewrote Nijimura's story to fix the pacing.

Please note, any errors spotted after this is posted will be fixed when I see them.

Also, in case readers want to keep updated with me aside from these author notes, I update my fanfiction profile every once in a while with progress on next chapters and future stories. I also update on my tumblr (Ari Yukimoto) so any of you that want to keep updated and talk with me, you can do so there. I also have a page there dedicated to OC profiles for any of you curious about any of my OCs; like Mizuki, Setsuna, Kou, Umi, Hikari, and Hana. Those guys are the only ones there so far.

Something kind of important that I want to bring attention to. On my profile, I have a poll up! If any of you have the time, please vote on this. This poll is up in regards to a future story I'm planning and I want to know which character people would want me to write the story for. Depending on the poll, it's either Yuu Nishinoya (ROLLING THUNDER!) from Haikyuu or Yukio Kasamatsu (Senpai~) from KnB. If you could please vote, I would really appreciate it! Or even leave your suggestion in a review. I really need to decide where this story goes, and I would appreciate if you could all help me choose!

Finally, once again, thank you to all the readers and followers of this story! Please continue to show support for this story by leaving a review, favoriting, or following. I really want to hear from you guys so I actually have an idea of what people think and whether they want me to continue or not. I won't know unless you guys say something! I hope to hear from you!

-Ari


	8. Longing Chapter Four

**Note from the author: This chapter continues to go over the subject of relationship abuse. For those of you sensitive to this topic, you have been warned.**

* * *

 _"There are times in life you must distance yourself from those you love, because you love them."_

 _-C.C. (Code Geass)_

"Why can't you just be happy for me?!"

Nijimura frowned as he closed his eyes. His back was resting against the wall next to the door leading to the roof as he continued to listen to the screams coming from the other side.

"How can I be happy for you when you're with someone who doesn't love you?!"

 _Man, Hana sounds really convincing._

If he didn't know of her plans, he would've thought she was just being a complete bitch and would've barged into the situation to back up Setsuna.

"You don't understand! Just because our relationship is different from yours doesn't mean Haizaki doesn't love me!"

From the way her voice was wavering, he could easily imagine Setsuna's figure shaking while small tears gathered in her eyes as she continued to yell at Hana.

There was a noticeable pause before Hana spoke again. "It's not that your relationship is different, Miyana… It's that what you and Haizaki have isn't considered a healthy relationship! If you understood that, then you'd know why he doesn't love you!"

He could hear a loud smack, one loud enough to make him flinch, from the other side of the door. "You're the worst… I thought we were friends, Hana…" Now Setsuna let out a few sobs and sniffles. "If… If you can't be supportive of my relationship, then I'm better off without you!"

The door slammed open and Setsuna quickly ran down the steps while hiding her tear stained eyes behind her arm. Nijimura only let out an exhausted sigh as he watched Setsuna run off before leaning over, peeking through the door to check on Hana. The older girl just stood there while looking up at the sky as she held her slightly red cheek with one hand. Hesitantly, he approached her before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "…I'm here for you."

Without any words, Hana quickly buried her face into his shoulder as she embraced him. The older girl let out loud cries as she tightly gripped the back of his school blazer.

Nijimura just remained silent as he held the crying girl in his arms. He just rubbed her back soothingly as she continued to cry her heart out.

 _Now that I think about it… Around a year ago was the first time I comforted a crying girl…_

He recalled how he was so unsure about what to do for Setsuna as she cried over her father's death. Now, doing something like this seemed a lot easier.

The two of them stayed like that for what seemed like forever until she pulled away from him, using the back of her hand to wipe away the remaining tears. "…Sorry."

He shook his head at her. "Don't be. I understand how hard this must be for you… I'm sorry that you have to bear all this pain."

Hana just scoffed before crossing her arms over her chest in her usual confident way and that signature smug smirk of hers curving on her lips as she looked at him. "I'm strong, so I can handle it." Playfully, she brought her hand up to the back of his head and hit it lightly. "Now go on, Prince Charming. Go find your princess before the clock strikes midnight and she disappears for good."

After rolling his eyes at her analogy, Nijimura just nodded his before turning his back on her. "…Thank you, Hana-senpai." He ran to the door and was about to sprint down the stairs but he stopped to look at her over his shoulder. This was when he caught sight of her confused expression. "…You know, even if you're playing the bad guy here, you still deserve to be happy."

Hana's eyes widened at his words before he ran off and left her alone on the roof. In her solitude, she just returned her gaze to the sky as the wind blew through her hair. Slowly, she brought a hand up to her chest. "…If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, it's not me… It's Miyana."

Just like Hana said, he found Setsuna crying on one of the benches near the tennis courts. Not wanting to make his presence known to her, he approached her slowly and quietly. Only when he was sitting next to her did he decide to speak up. "Tsuna…?"

Her head shot up quickly and she looked at him with wide eyes. "O-Oh… Hey, Shu…" Her lips pressed together tightly as she wiped away any stray tears from her face with her fingers. "S-So… What brings you here?"

He looked at her with concern filled eyes. "I-I saw you while you were running here… Did Haizaki make you cry?"

Setsuna quickly shook her head. "No… I-It's Hana-senpai… We kind of… Got into a fight."

Nijimura's eyes widened with false surprise. Sure, he knows what went down, but he had to remember that she didn't know that. "You two fought? Why? I-If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind telling you…" She sniffled while tucking some of her stray hair behind her ear before continuing. "Shu… I know you're not in a relationship, but… Could you tell me what defines a healthy relationship?"

He pressed his lips together to keep his thoughts from carelessly spilling out. "W-Why do you ask, Tsuna?"

Setsuna hummed as she kicked a small pebble away from her feet. "Well… It's just that… You know how Hana-senpai has a boyfriend, right?" When she paused, he nodded in response. "We always hang out together, so I always bear witness to them… You see, they both always just look so happy and they keep kissing each other a lot and hugging… It's… Are those things considered healthy?"

He paused to think to a second.

 _I need to make sure to choose my words carefully here… According to what Hana said, I shouldn't expect her to understand right off the bat. I need to take it slow with her…_

After collecting his thoughts, he nodded firmly. "Yes, I would say that they're healthy things that happen in a relationship. Why are you asking?"

 _But I need to make it clear that physical abuse isn't part of a healthy relationship._

Setsuna had a disoriented expression on her face and her brows furrowed together in confusion. " It's just… Hana-senpai said some things and… After I ran away from her, I started thinking about my relationship with Haizaki… I-I mean, Haizaki does kiss me… But when he does, it's rough and sometimes it bruises… A-And he doesn't really take me out on dates to have fun or anything…" She then shook her head frantically before looking back into Nijimura's eyes. "B-Basically, I'm just trying to say that… That our relationship is so different from what I've seen with Hana-senpai's and other couples. I've always thought that what we had was fine, but now…" She paused to look away from him, putting both her hands to her cheeks. "I'm confused… And now I'm starting to wonder if it's my fault that Haizaki treats me differently…"

Frowning, Nijimura gently ran a hand over her hair and spoke softly. "Tsuna, it's not your fault. You're not to take any blame for his actions, okay?"

She just looked even more lost, almost like she was getting a headache trying to comprehend what was being said to her. "…Then, do you think I can change how he treats me? You know… So the two of us could be like other couples?"

Nijimura swallowed the lump in his throat. He took a small breath before looking right into her confused gaze. "Setsuna, I'm saying this as someone who's known Haizaki for longer… But I don't think you can change his behavior. He's just… Always been like that." Honestly, Haizaki caught his attention because that harsh personality he has reminded Nijimura of his own time before he became friends with Setsuna. Nijimura was hoping that maybe he could help influence Haizaki in a positive way like how Setsuna did for himself, but nothing changed no matter how hard he tried. "But I want you to know that you always have the choice on whether you want to leave him or not, okay?"

Setsuna smiled a bit. "I see… Ah, I'm sorry for going on about this, Shu… It's just…" She paused a bit, placing her hands in her lap as she looked down. "Hana-senpai's been telling me to leave Haizaki even though we love each other. I asked her why I should leave him, but she wouldn't give me a reason. She just said that it's best for me if I do."

" _I've done my fair share of research on this… I know I'm not doing the right thing here, but that's why I need your help." Hana said as she waited for him outside of the locker room._

 _When he finished changing, Nijimura took his bag and walked out. As he looked over at her, his eyes narrowed a bit at her words. "What exactly is your plan here, Hana-senpai?"_

 _She didn't respond back to him and just walked ahead. A tad confused, Nijimura just shrugged his shoulders before following after her. She remained silent as the two of them walked out of the gym before stopping at the school gate, her gaze shifting up towards the sky. "…I want you to be the one to do the right thing."_

" _Huh? Shouldn't you be the one doing the right thing here?" Nijimura questioned as he turned to look at her. "Wait, why are you knowingly doing the wrong thing in the first place?!"_

 _There was a bitter smile on her face as she continued to stare up at the sky._

Nijimura tried his best to put on a smile as he ran his hand over her head gently. "Tsuna, the decision is ultimately yours. I won't tell you what's right or wrong, but I will tell you that I will support whatever choice you decide to make."

Her green eyes widened before she smiled widely and closed the distance between them with a hug. "Thank you, Shu…! I wish Hana-senpai would be as understanding as you."

" _I'm… I'm going to make Miyana hate me." She spoke with a sad look in her blue eyes._

 _He shook his head slowly in disbelief. "Why…? You're her best friend, aren't you?! Why would you purposely make her hate you?!"_

He shook his head and slowly wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "You're welcome, Tsuna."

 _Hana shook her head slowly. "You don't understand, do you? Let me break it all down for you…" Closing the distance between them so she stood right in front of him, she looked into his eyes with a serious look. "I'm saying the things she doesn't want to hear, the wrong things… You'll be saying the things she wants to hear, or rather, you'll say the right things to her… Now tell me; between the two of us, who would she listen to? The best friend she hates because she's forcing her to leave the relationship or the best friend she likes because he's consoling her through it?"_

 _His eyes widened as the realization came together. "…You're making me seem like the more likable one, just so she'll listen to me…?"_

 _A smirk curved on her lips as she brought a hand up to ruffle his hair. "Haha, there you go! I knew you could catch on, Captain Bakamura." After he gently swatted her hand away, she just sighed and the two of them continued their way home. "Well, this will only be a success after Miyana makes the decision to leave him. If we manage to get this done before I graduate, that'd be fan-fucking-tastic!"_

 _Nijimura's gaze shifted to the ground as the two of them walked side-by-side. "But… Why make her hate you? Why not let me fill that role instead?"_

 _She scoffed as she rested her hands behind her head. "Between the two of us, it's better for her to hate me. The two of you still have another year together, and I'll be graduating in a few months. I'm planning to attend Kaijo, so Miyana won't have to see me or hear from me once I leave Teiko." This was when she let out a chuckle. "Heh, I mean, I'd love to make Miyana hate you, but… You're probably the only person who can help her out of this. You're the only person that's gotten that close to her besides me, Mizuki-senpai, and Umi-chan. And you see, I can't ask Mizuki-senpai since she's already gone. As for Umi-chan, she wouldn't approve of this method."_

 _As the two of them walked on the sidewalk, he slowly came to a stop before letting the thought running through his mind slip though his lips. "…Does it hurt to lose her like this?"_

 _Hana stopped walking when she was a good distance ahead of him, her hands resting at her sides as she looked down. He could faintly see her head nod. "Of course it hurts, Nijimura. Miyana's been my best friend for years… Honestly, she was the first friend I made since coming to this country… I love her so much and I always want to be there for her like how she was there for me, but…" Looking over her shoulder, Nijimura's eyes widened at the bitter yet sorrowful smile on her lips while tiny streams of tears trailed down her cheeks. "If making her hate me will ultimately help her, then this is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for her to be safe."_

* * *

After that day, Setsuna completely cut all ties with Hana. The two of them would never talk or even look each other in the eye if they passed each other in the halls. As Nijimura watched this happen, it reminded him of how he and Setsuna stopped talking after she started dating Haizaki. In his own way, he could kind of understand what Hana was going through and would often comfort her whenever he saw her at practice.

At this time, a few months had passed since the two girls cut their friendship.

"She's been doing well, in case you're curious." Nijimura said before taking a swig from the bottle she handed him.

Hana gave a small smile as she continued writing on the small stack of papers piled on her wooden clipboard. "That's good… Any updates concerning their relationship?"

Nijimura nodded before pulling the bottle away from his mouth. "Yeah, she's been questioning all of it and is slowly coming to understand what's wrong. Judging from the last time I talked with her, it sounds like she plans to break things off with him soon."

Tucking her pencil behind her ear, she brought that hand up to his head and ruffled his hair playfully. "Good job. That's all I need to hear…"

"Ah, Hana-senpai!" At the sound of her name, she turned around to face the young pink haired girl named Momoi. "Could you please look over this data? The coach asked me to have you check it."

"Sure thing." A smile curved on her lips as she took the small stack of papers from Momoi, examining each page with a quick but thorough look. "…Haha, jeez Momoi… You've got quite the talent for this! Looks like I won't have to worry about the team finding a new manager after I graduate."

With slightly red cheeks, Momoi waved her hands in front of herself. "No way! Hana-senpai, you're way better at all this than me! The only reason I'm where I am now is because of you… But even if I'm able to become skilled at this, you're better at treating injuries and seeing people's talent! I've heard from the head coach that you're the one who recruited most of our current first strings."

Hana brushed the compliment away with a chuckle before handing Momoi her papers. She placed a hand on top of the younger girl's head and smiled. "Thanks, but no need to be humble. I can tell you're going to come far long after I graduate, even in your high school years, you'll go even farther than you expect. Like with the other first years…" Hana and Momoi both looked at the first years practicing their drills. "I can tell those guys will go very far… And so will the next guy I'm trying to recruit for this team."

Nijimura's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "Hana-senpai, you're still trying to recruit even though you're graduating soon?"

She smirked confidently while crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course! I've got to leave behind as much as I can for you guys. Besides," Hana walked closer to Nijimura, bringing her lips close to his ear. "You seriously think Haizaki will stay as a regular?"

"Huh?" He just stared at Hana as she backed away from him. "…What do you mean?"

A frown curved on her lips. "Sure, there's no denying that the kid is talented at the game, but he's got the worst personality and skips practice and games way too much for his talent be utilized. I know you were thinking of changing him for the better, but I'm sorry to tell you to give it up. He won't change, or rather, he won't change easily. He's at that rebellious age, you know? Maybe in a few years after he grows up a little more, but as he is now, there's no point. Plus, there's a feeling that I have… A feeling that he'll end up being outshined by someone else… Heck," This was when Hana poked his forehead with her finger. "I even have a feeling you'll end up being surpassed by a certain young lord of red." Her eyes then shifted over to the group of first years for a moment before she looked back at him, shrugging her shoulders. "Eh, but I could be wrong… Either way, I'm still keen on getting this guy to join next year. He hasn't given me the okay yet, but I'll convince him for sure. Call it a parting gift of sorts from me to this team."

"Hana-senpai, the coach wants you to treat someone who sprained his wrist." Midorima said as he walked over to them.

She looked up at him and nodded. "Alright, I'll be right there. Thanks for letting me know, Midorima. Momoi, keep an eye on everyone until I come back. Nijimura, you do you, boo."

With those words and a playful punch to his chest, Hana walked off while the others returned to their tasks. Once she left the gym, Nijimura's eyes then shifted towards Akashi. Considering how well Hana can read people, he didn't even doubt her words for a second.

* * *

It was two weeks before the end of the school year, meaning two weeks left until graduation. It took a lot of time and effort, but he finally succeeded.

It was the weekend, and Nijimura's brows furrowed when he heard the doorbell go off. Getting up off the couch, he went to answer the door. "Who is i- Whoa! W-What the hell _happened_ to you?!"

There at his doorstep stood Setsuna. Her strawberry blonde hair was disheveled and sticking out messily at various places. Lining her right cheekbone and left jawline were large bruises that have swelled up painfully. Near her nostrils, he could see remnants of dry blood.

 _She's a mess…_

Despite her injuries, the girl just shot him the best smile she could give him despite her injuries. "Sorry for… showing up unexpectedly like this… Do you… mind helping me?"

 _Like you even need to ask!_

He didn't even hesitate for even a second before letting her into his house, first letting her go to the bathroom to wash away the blood from her face before treating her. Once she finished, he let her into his room and placed an ice pack over her bruised cheekbone once she lied on his bed. Sitting on the edge of the soft mattress, he crossed his arms in a disapproving manner. "I hope you realize that you have a lot of explaining to do here, young lady."

Despite the weight of the situation, she managed a weak giggle. "Of course, Shu… I don't plan on leaving you in the dark." She paused to let out a heavy sigh before continuing. "You know how I've thought about breaking up with Haizaki, right? Well, I finally did it. As for the bruises, well… What you see right now is kind of his parting gift to me for leaving him…"

 _Of course things wouldn't go by smoothly._

His fists tightened and his teeth sunk into his lower lip from his frustration. In his mind, he was debating whether or not going after Haizaki for this would be worth it at this point. "…I see. But how do you feel about everything now? He won't be bothering you anymore, right?"

Moving the ice pack to her jaw, her lips curved into a very small smile. "Honestly, I feel a bit better about it now that it's over… And yeah, he said we won't associate with each other anymore." Letting out a weak chuckle, she brought her other hand up to poke his arm. "Looks like you'll finally be having less injuries to worry about."

He chuckled at her playful tone, tapping her forehead in a light and playful manner with two fingers. "I know you ended your relationship with him, but isn't it too soon to be joking about things like that?"

Stifling a laugh, she shook her head from side to side. "Sorry, I was trying to make light of the situation… Also, please do me another favor and don't make me laugh. My face hurts when I try to smile."

At this moment, even though it resulted in her getting injured one last time by him, he was just happy that she was finally free from that relationship. Hana's sacrifice didn't go to waste and he was able to grant her one last wish before she graduated.

* * *

The entire school was beautifully decorated by all underclassmen to bid farewell to the third years. Many parents and relatives came to give their congratulations to the students. However, there was one student who didn't have that pleasure.

Nijimura was in the basketball gym and stood alongside all the members who were gathered to say their goodbyes to the graduating third years.

"Your parents couldn't make it?!" Momoi asked with surprise.

Hana just chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Ah, yeah… You see, both of my parents are really busy and they just couldn't make time for it." When she noticed the sympathetic looks on everyone's faces, she just shook her hands in front of herself dismissively. "Aww come on guys, don't give me that look! I don't really mind because this just means I can spend my last day here with you all instead of being forced to hang around my parents. I honestly couldn't ask for a better way to spend graduation day!"

Momoi's eyes watered a bit before she ran towards her senpai. Wrapping her arms tightly around Hana's waist, Momoi cried into her shoulder. "I'm going to miss you so much, Hana-senpai!"

Hana just chuckled as she returned the hug, rubbing her hand on Momoi's back to comfort her. "I'll miss you too, Momoi. Take care of these guys for me, please? Especially Ahomine, the biggest idiot of all."

Aomine's eye visibly twitched at her comment. "Who're you calling an idiot, Hana-senpai?"

Once she was released from Momoi's hug, she walked over the tanned teen and roughly ruffled his dark blue hair affectionately. "Oh hush, it's true and you know it! Need I remind you that you suck at spelling so much that you write everything in katakana? Or the fact that all you have on your mind besides basketball is collecting crayfish and the boobs of Horiuchi Mako-"

"I like Horikita Mai-chan! Horiuchi Mako-chan is too flat!" Aomine argued with a glare as he pushed her hand away.

This was when everyone began to chuckle a bit while Hana just shook her head. "And of course you go and say something that just further proves my point, you dork… Actually, all of you are just a bunch of dorks, not just Aomine…"

Approaching her from behind, Murasakibara placed his large hand on top of her head. "Hana-chin, it's not very nice of you to call us 'dorks'… I just might have to crush you for that."

Letting out a heavy sigh, she just moved his hand off of her head before putting her hands on her waist. Turning towards the tall purple haired first year, she stared up at him with a serious look in her cerulean blue eyes. "Murasakibara…" She then smiled and held her arms out to him. "Bend down here and let me mess up that pretty hair of yours one last time!"

"Noooo." Despite his feeble protest, he still bent down just enough to let her mess up his hair like she did with Aomine.

"Hana-senpai, is this all really necessary?" Kuroko questioned only to also have his head ruffled affectionately by her in response. However, she didn't mess it up as much as the others since she knew he didn't really enjoy people messing up his hair.

She just smiled at him. "Of course it is! I'm going to miss all of you, even if my time with you first years was short. I loved being manager for this amazing team for my last year."

Taking a step forward, Midorima tapped a finger on her shoulder to get her attention. Clearing his throat, he held his hand out. "As a graduation gift, here."

When Hana held her hand out under his, he dropped the item into her palm. Looking at it closely, she chuckled. "A yellow flower hair clip? Let me guess; it's my lucky item for today. To top it off, you got it in my lucky color as well." She couldn't hold back her laughter as Midorima looked away, adjusting his glasses in an attempt to hide his slightly pink face. "Haha, I appreciate that you got it for me. It really means a lot to me and I'll treasure it, Midorima."

After she put the clip in her own hair and convinced the green haired shooting guard to bend down so she could also ruffle his hair, Akashi stepped forward to say his farewells. "I appreciate everything that you've done for us in the past year, Seo-senpai. You will be missed dearly."

She snorted as she walked towards him to place a hand on top of his head. "Akashi, you're probably the only person that I haven't gotten to call me 'Hana'… I thought you'd give in by now, considering we see each other not just in basketball, but student council too… You think I can finally hear it from you? Just for today?"

Under most circumstances, he would refuse as it was something he saw as disrespectful. However, perhaps it was because this was her last day here as their manager, he closed his eyes before giving her a nod. "If that's what you want, Hana-senpai."

A large grin etched itself onto her face as she lightly ruffled his red hair, the same way she did with Kuroko. "Thanks, Akashi. Now then…" Once she finished the individual goodbyes to each member that approached her, she stepped back to look at the group with a smile. "Today is finally the day… After this day, I will no longer be the manager of Teiko's basketball team anymore and the rest of us third years will be moving onto high school. My time being manager has probably been the greatest part of my experience here at Teiko. I'm being serious here; it's even better than all my three years in student council! I really enjoyed every day I got to spend with all of you, helping you all grow as players and as individuals. As your manager, my final words to all of you are to keep up all your hard work. I see so much potential in all of you and I can honestly tell you all for a fact that you will only improve from now on."

Nijimura swore that Hana was almost tearing up right now, something very out of character for the usually strict but caring manager (or "team mom" as everyone called her behind her back.)

"However," She paused to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "As your senpai, my finals words to all of you are for you to remember that you are all still growing. Life comes with hardships, but I want you all to develop the strength to overcome them. Never forget that there's always a rainbow after the rain. You all got that?"

In unison, everyone in the gym seemed to nod at the same time. After meeting eyes with the head coach, Nijimura took a step forward and stood firmly with his hands at his side. "On the count of three! One… Two… Three!"

Hana's eyes widened when everyone bowed their heads at her. "Thank you for everything, Hana-senpai!"

She blinked a few times in shock before letting out a relived laugh as a few tears fell from her eyes. "Jeez… I didn't think I'd be crying because of you idiots today…" Using the back of her hand to wipe away the fallen tears, she did her best to show them all her usual proud grin. "Thank you all for your hard work!"

Once she bid farewell to everyone, Hana left the gym to walk around the school one last time, asking Nijimura to tag along. While he walked beside her with his hands in his pockets, he smiled. "Didn't expect you to cry back there, honestly."

She scoffed before lightly punching his arm. "Oh shut the hell up. You won't understand my feelings until you graduate. That is, if you actually manage to graduate next year."

"I'm not stupid, you know!" He argued back, only making her laugh in response.

Once the two of them made it to the roof, Hana looked up at the sky with a smile. "Well… The day's almost over. You got any last words for me, Nijimura?"

Standing beside her and also looking up at the sky, he made a small nod that she could see out of her peripheral vision. "Yeah… Thank you for being Tsuna's friend. I'm sorry that you had to be the one to suffer the most, but because of your support, I've been able to grant your last wish before you graduated and ultimately help Tsuna. I hope that now, you can leave Teiko behind without any regrets."

Hana's blue eyes shifted over to him before she turned her head to look up at him. "…You've grown a lot. To think you used to be this little blond punk that got into a fight during the very first week of the school year."

Nijimura visibly cringed, placing a hand on the back of his neck as he looked away. "Please don't remind me of those days…"

She let out a lighthearted giggle. "My bad… But I'm really glad Miyana helped you change for the better. Anyway, I have some final words for you personally."

He cocked his head to the side in confusion. When she stood right in front of him, he raised a brow. "You mean there's more from what you said in the gym?"

There was serious look in her eyes as she gave him one firm nod. "Why do you think I asked you to come with me? My final words to you are pretty personal and I only want you to hear them, okay?"

Without a second thought, he nodded.

Once their eyes met, she began. "I'll be honest; I hated that you were close to Miyana because I was afraid that you'd take her away from me. But the longer you two were friends, I noticed how happy she looked whenever she told me about you… You made her smile in a way I never could. Dare I say, you brought out her prettiest smiles." Swallowing the lump that formed in her throat, she took a breath before continuing. "These past couple months of teaming up with you to get her out of her toxic relationship with Haizaki… I've learned a lot more about you and realized that you have a lot more redeeming qualities than I initially thought. Unlike Haizaki, you genuinely care for Miyana, not just her feelings, but also her wellbeing… You were able to be patient with her and slowly helped her get out. For all that, I want to say thank you. Thank you for doing all this for Miyana and me despite your family situations. Thank you for also keeping up with your responsibilities as captain. Thank you for going along with my selfish request and helping to grant my last wish before I graduate. You've done well, Shuzo Nijimura."

Her eyes looked so gentle as she said these words. He was caught speechless, not sure what to do or say at the moment. All he could muster was a single nod as he bowed a bit before her. "I-It was nothing, Hana-senpai."

A small smile curved on her lips as she placed her hand on top of his head to gently ruffle his hair. "Don't be so modest. Also, I'm not done yet, so raise your head."

Once her hand was off his head, he straightened his posture as he stared down at her with a look of confusion. "You still have more to say?"

She nodded, the look on her face was very gentle, almost like she was a completely different person at that moment. "Wait until summer… By then, she should be ready to move forward, and when that time comes, you better jump on the chance ask her out."

Heat rushed to his face at her suggestion. "W-Wai-What?!"

A playful smirk graced her features. "Oho? Or will you still be too chicken to ask her out by then?"

He shook his head furiously, his eyes narrowed at her. "O-Of course not!"

Hana stifled a giggle with her hand. "Good! Don't be an idiot, okay? Tell her properly! Miyana's the type that can't read people at all, so you have to make everything very clear for her. Plus it's just a feeling I have… But I really believe that you're the one that's for her."

Nijimura wasn't sure how to feel at that moment. "Wait, Hana-senpai… Why are you-"

"Oh my god, do I have to spell everything out for you?" She asked in an annoyed tone as she poked his forehead. "I'm saying you have my approval to date her! Besides, Kenji-san took a liking to you after he met you. If he was still alive, he'd be the one giving you this talk instead of me."

His eyes widened. "Her father…?"

She nodded with crossed arms while she raised one of her hands to jab her thumb in one direction. "Yup. Well, now that you know all this, go get her. I think she's waiting to walk home with you."

Following the direction Hana's thumb was pointing in, he saw Setsuna standing at the school gate. The girl was looking around anxiously as she occasionally checked her phone. Seeing that, Nijimura groaned. "Dammit! Is it really time already?! Ugh, sorry Hana-senpai."

Hana just shook her head and waved him off dismissively. "Don't worry about it. We've tied everything up and I'm pretty happy with how this day is ending. We'll probably see each other at games in the future."

He nodded. "Definitely. Well, I'll be going now. Goodbye, Hana-senpai! Thank you for everything!"

As he ran off, she just smiled and waved at him with one hand lazily. "Bye…" Returning her gaze to the sky, she closed her eyes as the wind blew through her long chocolate brown hair. "Hwaiting, Shuzo."

* * *

"Shu, are you paying attention? Shu!"

"Huh?" Snapping himself back into reality, he blinked a few times before shifting his attention to Setsuna. "S-Sorry… You were saying?"

She frowned a bit, sighing quietly before standing from her chair. "I was saying that we should get going. Visitor hours are ending soon." After adjusting her purse strap so it sat comfortably on her shoulder, she bowed towards his father. "Thank you for letting us visit you, Mr. Nijimura. I hope you'll get well soon."

His father just shook his head with a small smile on his face. "I should be thanking you for taking the time to visit me, Setsuna-chan. Shuzo, make sure to take care of her, your mother, and your siblings."

Pressing his lips together tightly, he nodded as he slowly got up from his chair. "I will. Take care of yourself too, dad."

After the two of them bid farewell to his father and left the hospital, they decided to stop by a store to pick up spare notebooks for their upcoming third year. As they walked back home, Nijimura opened the can of Pocari he bought.

"You shouldn't drink those so much, they're not good for you." Setsuna commented with a frown as she poked her straw into her juice box.

"The day I stop drinking this is the day you grow up and stop buying juice boxes." He replied back sarcastically before taking a large sip.

Her cheeks puffed in anger. "Oh hush, let me enjoy the childish wonder of juice boxes before I'm too old for it!"

He just shook his head at her. "Honestly, no matter how old you get, you'll probably still act like a child." Nijimura commented with smile as he pulled the can away from his lips.

Like most times after they leave the hospital, things were silent for a long time before he would speak up. "Hey, Tsuna… I just wanted to say thanks for coming to visit him with me. I'm sorry we don't really hang out like we used to…"

Shaking her head from side to side, she just smiled at him. "I don't mind. I know you just want to make time to visit him. Besides, even if it's not hanging out in town like we used to, we're still technically spending time with each other and that's fine with me."

Leave it to Setsuna to be able to see the positive in everything. Hearing her words brought a smile to his face. "I'm glad. You know, I'm so thankful to have you here with me. I really don't know what I would do without you…"

Her eyes widened by a small margin and she let out a nervous chuckle as she scratched the back of her head. "I don't know what I'd do without you either, Shu… You're the only person I can really trust after the whole deal with Haizaki."

A frown curved on his lips when he heard that name. His hand tightly gripped the can and caused small dents where his fingers were. "Yeah… That's true." Once he spotted a recycle bin, he threw his dented can into it. "Hey, Tsuna… Mind if we stop by the usual place before I take you ho-"

He was cut off when he felt Setsuna's small hand take a hold of his, gripping it comfortingly. She stared up at him with a small nod of her head. "Let's go."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (January 3 2017): Edited from the previous version.

Any errors spotted after this is posted will be edited and fixed when I see them.

If you haven't already, please go to my profile and vote on the poll I have posted. Polls can only be viewed on PC, not mobiles.

Follow me on tumblr at Ari Yukimoto for writing updates and detailed profiles of my OCs.

Once again, thank you for reading. Please show your support for this series by leaving a review.

-Ari


	9. Longing Final Chapter

" _They say a love scar can be healed by a different person."_

 _-Teen Top (I Wanna Love)_

In the park, there was a wooden bridge that loomed over a river. For some reason, this bridge ended up becoming a special place for Nijimura and Setsuna. After the two of them visited his father in the hospital, this became the place they could come to and just relax while staring down at the flowing river or up at the sky.

Once they walked on the bridge, the wooden surface whining against their weight, Setsuna spoke up as she headed towards one side of the bridge. "I still can't believe this will be our last year at Teiko… Are you nervous about graduation?" She questioned curiously while placing her hands against the wooden rail of the bridge. She then leaned forward to stare up at the dark sky.

"Honestly, I haven't thought much of it." Nijimura said as he walked to the opposite rail and leaned forward so his arms rested on the rail, staring down at the flowing river water below. Despite the fact that their backs were facing each other, they just continued to converse normally. "I mean, it's still a long time from now, so I'll be nervous about it when the time comes."

Setsuna hummed while playfully twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "I suppose… Do you know which high school you'll be going to? I was thinking of going to Shutoku, honestly."

Running a hand through his bangs to push them away from his face, he smiled. "Well, you just answered your own question."

"Eh? Shutoku for you too? Why?" Confused by his answer, she turned to face him. "Is it because of the basketball club?"

Nijimura just let out a small chuckle before he also turned around. Taking a few steps forward until he was standing right in front of her, Setsuna looked up at him. "No, it's nothing like that…" Gently, he placed his hand on her head and ran his fingers through her hair in a comforting manner. "It's just that I need to be wherever you are, because I want to take care of you."

Setsuna blinked a few times at his answer before a small smile curved on her lips. "…Thanks Shu, I'm glad I have you by my side."

When she turned her head to look towards the streetlamp that just turned on, the wind blew her long bangs away from her face and revealed the mark she usually hid.

His eyes narrowed a bit as he stared at the slightly dark patch of skin lining her right cheekbone. That mark came from one of the bruises Haizaki gave her after she left him. According to what the doctor told her, it was nothing serious to worry about since the bruise would go away eventually, it's just that her body was taking its time to heal and her body happens to take longer to heal than the average person. A frown curved on his lips when he remembered the day she came back to school with that bruise, recalling how their classmates made fun of it which led her to eventually grow out her bangs so she could hide the mark from them.

While he was silent, she noticed him staring at her and her head tilted to the side curiously. "Shu? Is something wrong?"

Going purely on instinct, he brushed her hair away from the purplish skin before gently running his fingers over it. The action made her eyes widen while her face flushed a shade of light pink. "W-What?"

"I'm sorry…" Gently, his fingers continued to run over the mark. "This happened because I couldn't protect you from Haizaki."

Pressing her lips together, she quickly shook her head from side to side and waved her hands in front of herself. "Don't worry about it, Shu. It's fine, really! I don't mind it much anymore. I mean, look, I grew out my hair so I could hide it! No one makes fun of me when it's hidden, so-"

He cut her off by running his hand over her head to smooth out the stray hairs. "You may be fine with it, but I can't help but regret it… I…" He paused for a second as his gaze shifted down to the surface of the wooden bridge before continuing. "I just… I can't help but feel like I could've done more to prevent this from happening to you."

Setsuna silenced him by bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks and force him to look at her. "…You did all that you could, and I'm thankful. Please, don't regret the past." She shot him a bright smile as she trailed her fingers over the mark. "Our battle scars are what make us stronger to face the future, so let's just keep moving forward from here!"

Seeing her smile managed to bring a small smile to his face before he nodded his head. "Yeah, sounds good."

* * *

Ryota Kise, the infamous second year who got promoted to first string after being in the club for only a little over a week. Nijimura honestly couldn't believe someone so talented only decided to join during his second year.

"Huh, why I joined?" Kise questioned when he was asked by one of the members on the team in the locker room after practice. The blond hummed for a bit before smiling widely. "Well, it's because someone special to me suggested that I give it a try, so here I am!"

Aomine hummed as he pulled his shirt down. "Is that so? Who is this person?"

In response, Kise chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, about that… I actually don't know her name! All she told me was that was the manager of the team, but I haven't seen her ever since I joined, so it's honestly got me kind of worried for her."

"Momoi-san has always been manager though." Kuroko commented while packing up his bags. "Do you remember what she looks like? Maybe we can help you figure out who it is."

Kise's eyes seemed to light up. "Really?! If you could help me find her, that'd be great! I never got the chance to thank her for everything she's done for me." He paused, putting a hand against his chin as he thought about it. "Hmm… From what I remember, she had really pretty blue eyes and long brown hair…"

Just based on that unique combination of eye and hair color, almost everyone in the room knew who he was talking about.

After pulling the bag of chips away from his mouth and licking away the crumbs stuck to his lips, Murasakibara spoke up. "Sounds like Hana-chin…"

"Then of course he wouldn't have seen her around." Midorima commented while rolling his eyes as he wrapped his fingers. "She graduated last year."

"What?! She was a third year?!" Kise exclaimed loudly in surprise before slouching over in depression. "Aw man, I thought she was a second year…! I'm too late… She's already gone…"

Apparently, Kise was depressed to the point that he lost all motivation to even get up and leave the locker room even after everyone else left. Before Nijimura left the locker room, he eyed the boy one more time before letting out a sigh. After walking over to the slouching boy, he placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. "Hana-senpai told me about you." When he said this, Kise looked up at him with slightly teary eyes. "The way she talked about you… It's like all of her faith was put into you before you even joined. She spoke about you with a lot of pride."

Golden eyes were wide with anticipation. "…Really? She said things like that?"

He responded with a nod. "Yeah, when she was still manager, she kept talking to me about how much potential you had. Honestly, I almost couldn't believe you actually existed." Nijimura let out a small chuckle when he recalled how excited Hana would get when talking about Kise. "But then here you are. You exceeded all expectations and got into first string within less than two weeks. I'm sure if she was still manager here, she'd be really proud of you."

Nijimura couldn't stop himself from smiling when he caught sight of Kise's infectious happy smile. "Say, senpai! Do you have some time to spare? If possible, I…" Kise paused, a small blush on his face. "I want to ask you more about Hana-senpai."

He just nodded. "Alright, just let me send a text to someone first."

 _To: Tsuna_

 _I'll be a bit late, so just wait a bit longer, okay? I'll text you when I'm done._

"Alright, now the question is where to start…" He pondered while slipping his phone back in his pocket. "Oh, since you said you didn't know her name… Her full name is Hana Seo. She was the past manager of the Teiko Basketball team, former student council president, and valedictorian of her class."

Kise's golden eyes shined with awe. "That's amazing… She's not just pretty, but she's talented and smart too! Ah, if you don't mind me asking, do you happen to know which high school she went to?"

Placing a hand on his chin, Nijimura hummed as he tried to remember from the last time he talked to her. "Let's see… If I'm remembering correctly, she said she was going to Kaijo…"

"Kaijo… I see…" He muttered quietly to himself.

After talking about her with Kise, Nijimura made a note to himself to give Hana a call sometime in the future, just to see how she's been since graduation.

* * *

As the months went by, Nijimura's father's condition didn't show any signs of improvement despite all the treatment he was receiving. Sometimes after practice, he would have multiple texts from his mother saying that she wouldn't be home before dinner because she was at the hospital. As the texts with news about his father's condition became more and more frequent with each passing day, it was becoming harder and harder to focus in school or during practice, also while maintain his position as captain. Simply put, it was becoming too much, so Nijimura finally did what he had been contemplating to do ever since his third year started.

"Shu! C'mon, it's time to eat!" Setsuna smiled as she placed down various dishes she cooked. His eyes quickly scanned over the table and a small smile on his face as he saw the pot of piping hot miso soup to the plates of fried rice and shrimp tempura. "Ah, Mrs. Nijimura, thank you for letting me do this! I promise to wash everything once everyone finishes eating."

Yuri just smiled and shook her head as she looked over the all the food Setsuna cooked. "You're too good to us, Setsuna-chan. Thank you for offering to coming over and cook lunch for us today."

As she removed the apron she borrowed and placed it back on the hook on the wall, she just shook her head. "I don't mind at all! Shu told me about how busy you've been lately, so I decided to come help out so you can relax. And besides, having a nice meal with lots of people is always the perfect way to cheer up! Oh, speaking of, I'll go up and get Hitomi-chan and Nagi-kun."

Bringing up a hand to stop her before she could leave, Yuri shook her head. "Nope, you stay here, I'll go get them." Before leaving the kitchen, she shot her son a playful wink before disappearing from the room.

Letting out a heavy sigh he didn't know he was holding, he got up from his chair to stand right in front of Setsuna. Without any words, he just stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly while closing his eyes.

At first, she didn't expect the embrace and was confused by the gesture. It took a while before she realized what he was trying to say. A small smile curved on her lips as she returned the embrace, her hand running up and down his back in a comforting manner like how he would do for her. "You know you did the right thing for yourself, Shu. You're not being selfish for giving up your position as captain… Please don't beat yourself up over this."

" _Hey, Tsuna…" When he called her name, she looked up at him. There was a deep frown on his face as he glared down at the doorknob of the head coach's door. "When I do this… Can you remind me that I made this decision for myself?"_

 _She returned her gaze to the door to the head coach's room as she took a hold of his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, her thumb gently rubbing against his hand in a comforting way. "Of course. I'll be waiting for you outside, just in case you need me for anything."_

Since his father's condition hasn't shown any signs of improvement, he finally had made the decision to give up his position as captain so he could be there for his family if anything were to happen. It was hard giving up the position he was given, but he knew it was for the best.

"C'mon, you can't stay down about this forever." Pushing herself away from his chest, she looked up at him with her most cheerful smile. "Look, I made a lot of your favorite foods! Eating the food you love can you make you happy, right? So c'mon, smile! Please?"

She wasn't obligated to do any of this for him, but she did it anyway. If it wasn't her homemade food that brought a smile to his face, it was just her presence alone. The way she could flash him such a happy looking smile, the way would run a hand through his hair or on his back whenever they embraced, just all the small things she did…

He loved her, and wanted to protect her forever.

"Ooh! Does this finally mean Onii-chan is marrying Setsuna-onee-chan?!"

Snapping out of his trance, he let out a sigh as he released Setsuna from the embrace before turning around to be greeted by his two younger siblings and mother. "No, it doesn't, Hitomi."

Setsuna giggled as she waved at them. "Hello there, Hitomi-chan, Nagi-kun."

Nagi, his younger brother, bowed his head as he returned the gesture with his own tired smile. "Hello Setsu-nee."

Hitomi, his younger sister, pouted cutely as she crossed her arms over her chest and made her way to the dining table. "Humph… Not like Onii-chan could ever have the chance to date a girl like Setsuna-onee-chan. She's too good for him!"

Chuckling nervously, Setsuna just shook her head. "Haha, that's not true, Hitomi-chan! It's more like a girl like me could never have the chance to date an amazing guy like Shu."

As her words registered in everyone's heads, there was a mixture of reactions. While Nijimura's face flushed a deep shade of pink, both Hitomi and Nagi had their mouths wide open in excitement, and their mother had playful smile on her face. After seeing their reactions and realizing what she just said, Setsuna's face began to heat up as she quickly brought her hands up over her mouth. "Ah! I mean… I-It's not like that, I… I-It's not like I _want_ to date a guy like Shu, I'm just saying that Shu is a great guy and I think he'd be a great husband to some lucky girl in the future-" Frustrated, she shook her head violently before walking back to the table to sit down. "Forget I said anything! C'mon now, let's eat before the food gets cold!"

Before she could sit, Yuri walked up to Setsuna and placed an arm over her shoulders with a wide smile on her face. "You know, Setsuna-chan… I wouldn't mind having you as a daughter-in-law."

Hitomi nodded eagerly in agreement. "I want Setsuna-onee-chan to become my real onee-chan!"

He didn't think it was possible, but Setsuna's face was practically red at this point. She just buried her face into her hands as she shook her head. "Please, can we just drop this…?"

Needless to say, after Setsuna left his house that day, Nijimura couldn't get her words out of his head for the rest of the day while his siblings and mother teased him about it to no end.

* * *

"Sorry our plans got ruined today…" Nijimura muttered as he waited outside his room door while Setsuna changed.

"Don't worry about it! Summer rain is unpredictable! Even the weather forecast today said there wasn't going to be rain, so it's okay. Besides, we can still enjoy our day off at home." She reassured while pulling down the shirt he lent her over herself. "…Okay, you can come in now!"

After opening the door, he just stood in place for a few moments while staring at her, his eyes narrowing a bit when he spotted small drops of water dripping from the ends of her hair. "Why the heck is your hair still wet?"

Cocking her head to the side, she took a lock of damp hair between her fingers and just smiled. "Ah, well I heard that air drying is less damaging to your hair, so I thought I'd give it a try."

Sighing, he walked to her side and took her towel. "Do that on a sunny day, not when it's pouring outside. I don't want you to be catching a cold."

"Yeah but- Hey!"

Throwing the towel on top of her head, he took the fabric between his hands and began to roughly rub her hair dry. "What am I going to do with you? You're still just like a kid."

Moving the towel away from her face, she shot him a playful glare coupled with a cute pout. "If I'm a kid, then what does that make you- Hey!"

Nijimura chuckled a bit when she argued back. After he dried her hair thoroughly, he pulled the towel against her face, the fabric sinking into the contours of her face. The longer he kept the towel there and stared, he started to laugh. "You look funny like this."

"What a comedian." She replied back sarcastically with a small giggle of her own. "Oh well, don't I look cuter like this anyway?"

Since she couldn't see him, a small blush bloomed on his cheeks as he nodded. "Yeah, really cute."

 _I could do this… And she wouldn't know…_

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he closed his eyes and leaned in towards her.

Setsuna let out a laugh as she pulled the towel away from her face. "Haha, I'm kidding, I know I'm not that- Shu, what're you- Mmmph!"

The moment he felt something soft against his lips instead of the fluffy fabric of the towel, his eyes widened to meet surprised emerald green eyes.

 _Are we…?_

Sure enough, their lips remained connected like that for what seemed like forever until Nijimura had regained the common sense to pull away from her. Quickly, he backed away from Setsuna until his back rested against the headboard of his bed. His face burned as cover his lips with his hand and he quickly shifted his eyes away to avoid looking at her.

 _Why why_ WHY?! _I'm an idiot! She probably hates me for that now!_

Hesitantly, he decided to look over at Setsuna. Like himself, her face was bright red and her eyes were wide from surprise. One hand was up to her own lips, her index finger trailing over it softly. "Shu… W-Was that… A kiss…?"

Despite wanting to scream no, his head nodded yes.

 _Body, why do you betray me like this?!_

After a minute of silence between them, the blush on her face slowly died down as she covered her lips with her hand. "It… Didn't hurt…"

This was when his own embarrassment started to die down. Deciding to look back at her, he gave a small nod. "Y-Yeah… In my opinion, kisses aren't supposed to hurt."

Shyly, Setsuna looked down, her hand still covering her lips. "…Can we do it again?"

 ** _WHAT?_**

In his mind, he was freaking out and his heart rate was probably through the roof. But thanks to being captain for a year and a half, he mastered complete control over his composure and was able to respond calmly. "W-What? O-Or rather, _why?_ "

The blush returned to Setsuna's face when she realized what she had just said. Frantically, she began to wave her hands in front of herself. "I-I…! I-It's just… It felt nice… And I…" Her hand returned to trailing over her lips as she looked down at the sheets covering the bed with a completely red face. "I never felt a kiss like that before… S-So I wanted to feel it again… Y-You know, savor the feeling."

 _Tsuna, you're being really dangerous right now. I don't know if my heart can really handle what you're saying to me right now…_

While he looked composed as ever, his heart was beating loudly in his chest as he scratched the back of his head. "W-Well… I-I guess we could… Neither of us are in a relationship, s-so it should be fine…" This was when he brought up his hand to hold up one finger. "Just one more, and that's it though, okay?"

 _Because if we kiss anymore than that, you'd regret it._

In his mind- no, almost every fiber of his being desperately wanted her to say no. The only part of him wanting her to say yes was the troublesome organ beating rapidly in his chest.

Slowly, she nodded her head before leaned forward and crawling towards him so she could sit right beside him. "Okay… B-But just one… Because we're not in a relationship."

 _Dang it, Tsuna… You're not supposed to agree with me here!_

Letting out a heavy sigh in an attempt to slow his rapidly beating heart, he looked back at her and nodded his head. "Just one… Because we're not in a relationship."

Placing a hand on her right cheek to gently caress it, she closed her eyes and waited. When he eyed her light pink lips, his heartbeat grew more and more rapid and a lump formed in his throat. So he could get this over with sooner, he swallowed down his hesitation and nodded to himself before closing his own eyes and leaning in towards her.

 _Just one kiss, because if it's anymore than that, Setsuna would regret it._

The initial contact was feather soft, pure and innocent. As they stayed like that, the kiss become longer and sweeter than the first. Lost in the moment, Nijimura's fingers trailed from her cheek to the back of her neck as if to hold her there and savor the fact that she was really there.

 _Just one kiss, because if it's anymore than that, I would regret it._

To his surprise, she brought her own hands up to grip the front of his shirt like she wanted him to stay right there.

 _Just one kiss, because if it's anymore than that, we would regret it._

By now, he's lost count of how long they've kept their lips connected like that. He doesn't even remember how they ended up in their current position, Setsuna now lying with her back against the bed while his own body hovered above hers. One of his hands were pressed down against the firm mattress below them while his other arm kept him up. Their lips remained connected while their hands found each other, fingers intertwining and holding on like their lives depended on it.

Unknown to Nijimura and Setsuna, a tear slipped from each of their eyes as their kiss got deeper and deeper with each passing minute.

 _It's just one kiss, but I regret it… Because I want you more than ever._

* * *

"You know, I can't believe Setsuna-chan is still dating you after all this time!" Yuri exclaimed in a surprised tone. "How long has it been? Almost half a year or so?"

Nijimura just rolled his eyes. "Shut up, mom!"

The woman just snorted as she watched him frantically pace around his room. "I mean, don't get me wrong, having Setsuna-chan as a daughter in the future would be a dream come true! It's just that she deserves so much better than _you_."

His eyes twitched in annoyance as slipped his jacket on. "Shut _up,_ mom!"

"Mom's right though, Onii-chan. She's really pretty and could definitely get someone better."

At this point, he groaned as his palm came into contact with his forehead. "Shut up, Hitomi."

Hitomi just frowned as she crossed her arms. "Rude…"

Their mother nodded in agreement. "I know, right? I wonder where he gets it from…"

 _Gee, I fucking wonder…_

He thought bitterly as he eyed his mother out of the corner of his eye. After making sure he was ready and had everything he needed for the day, he nodded to himself. "Well, I gotta go meet up with Tsuna. Mom, did you need me to pick up anything before I come home?"

"Just buy her some flowers before you bring her home, you brat." Yuri commented with a sincere smile.

After checking his wallet for the money, he smiled. "I got enough. I'll be heading off then!"

His mother and sister moved out of the way and let him through. "Have fun!" Yuri called out with a wave. Once the front door shut behind him, Yuri groaned as she pulled out money from her pocket and handed it to Hitomi. "Fine, you win this bet."

Hitomi smiled as she took the money, counting the bills. "You need to have more faith in them, mom. Onii-chan is actually being a good boyfriend to her… But anyway, wanna play again?"

Yuri nodded with a confident look on her face. "I bet he'll fuck something up by the time they graduate."

"You're on."

The two of them shook on it and Nagi just let out a sigh at the scene he just walked in on. "The Nijimura women can be terrifying… Oh, but mom, there's a call from dad's doctor. They want to talk to you about something."

After Nagi handed her the phone, she brought it up to her ear with a serious look on her face. "Hello?"

The two young siblings of the Nijimura family just stared up at their mother as she continued to talk with the doctor, their curiosity growing when her eyes widened.

Yuri shook her head slowly as she brought a hand up to her forehead. "…Wait, what do you mean? You're saying we have to move? Where to?"

When those words left her mouth, Hitomi and Nagi looked at each other with wide eyes.

* * *

"Eh, this is rare… I didn't expect to see you here, _senpai_."

That condescending tone of voice only meant it could be one person. To keep his self control, Nijimura just sighed and closed his eyes. "What do you want, Haizaki?"

"Rude much? I was just saying hi." Haizaki commented with a smug smirk as he sat on the opposite side of the same bench as Nijimura. Things were silent for a few minutes before he spoke up again. "…So how's dating her going?"

Rolling his eyes behind closed lids, Nijimura replied in a feisty tone. "…Fine, now that she's away from you."

Haizaki snorted as he leaned back against the bench. "If that's what helps you sleep at night, I guess…" Again, silence surrounded them. And like last time, he spoke up again to break that silence. "…Setsuna's got a _really_ nice body."

Nijimura glared in Haizaki's direction before getting up from his seat to take a hold of his collar. With narrowed eyes, Nijimura had his fist pulled back to prepare for a punch. "If you're trying to provoke a reaction from me, is this what you want?!" Before he completely lost his cool, Nijimura just shook his head and lowered his fist, but the grip he had on Haizaki's collar remained tight. "…I thought you said you wouldn't bother us anymore, so why are you talking to me?"

For some reason, the grey haired teen was surprisingly calm, to the point that it was unsettling. He just brought a hand up to grip Nijimura's hand to loosen the tight grip. "You know, you're awfully quick to paint me as the bad guy here… Tell me, was it because of things that Hana-senpai told you?"

"That's none of your business!" He practically barked while tightening his grip again.

Clicking his tongue, Haizaki looked to the side. "Tch, 'course not." They just continued to stare at each other, not a single word exchanged for a while. After a while, he let out a chuckle. "…But then again, what do I know? Apparently I'm _bad_ for her."

 _This is strange… Why is Haizaki acting like this?_

Nijimura's eyes narrowed menacingly as he stared him down. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Haizaki just laughed in a patronizing manner. "Wouldn't you like to know?! All I can tell you is-"

"Shu! I'm sorry I'm late!"

Hearing her call his name, Nijimura loosened his grip and let go of Haizaki's collar as he turned to face her. Despite the anger he had earlier, Nijimura was able to greet his girlfriend with a smile on his face. "Hey Tsuna!"

Once she stood by him, she rested her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "I-I hope I didn't keep you wait… ing…" Setsuna looked up and her eyes widened when she caught sight of Haizaki sitting behind him.

Realizing that the situation, Nijimura placed his arm around her shoulders while leading her away. "L-Let's go talk somewhere else, okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Numbly, she nodded her head, her eyes glued to Haizaki's until she turned and walked away from him.

Haizaki just watched as the couple disappeared into the distance. Shaking his head, he let out a heavy sigh as he placed his hands behind his head before leaning back to look up at the sky. "Ignorance really is bliss, isn't it?"

As the two of them walked together, hand in hand, Nijimura frowned when he felt her hand shaking uncontrollably with cold sweat on her palms.

 _Dammit, of course that shook her up! I should've just ignored him!_

After pressing her lips together, Setsuna finally spoke up. "Um… I-If you don't mind me asking… What were the two of you talking about?"

 _We're out on a date, so I shouldn't worry her with anything._

In response, Nijimura quickly shook his head and smiled at her. "It was nothing, so don't worry about it, okay?" He squeezed her hand reassuringly in an attempt to warm her ice cold hand. "So what did you want to do today? I chose what we did last time we went out, so it's your turn to choose this time."

He was thankful that this seemed to help her get her mind off the situation with Haizaki as she began to think of what to do for their date today. "Hmm… Oh, I got it!" After saying that, her face turned a light shade of pink as she looked up at him. "Okay, I know this is stupid, but I've been wanting to try it… If you don't mind?"

After dating Setsuna for a half a year, that phrase could only mean two things: she wanted to go try a new shop she found or she wanted to do some stupidly embarrassing couple thing.

 _For the love of God, please let it be the first thing._

That's the only thought that ran through his mind as he nodded, albeit hesitantly, before being dragged to whatever place Setsuna wanted to go to.

* * *

"They're so adorable!" Setsuna cooed as she affectionately stroked the cat that jumped into her lap. After getting a closer look at the cat, she laughed while picking up the cat. "Shu, look! This one looks like you!"

 _Thank God it was the first thing…_

When he saw the cat she was holding up, he glared at her playfully. "That does _not_ look like me."

"Eh? No way, it looks exactly like you!" She looked at the black cats face once more before nodding confidently. "Yup, it's a perfect match. Trust me, I would know, since I have to look at your face everyday!"

At that comment, he couldn't stop himself from smiling and laughing at her silliness. "Oh yeah, well this one looks like you!" He said, pointing to the orange tabby that was lying next to him lazily.

After looking at the cat he gestured towards, she pouted cutely. "You're just saying that because his fur is almost the same color as my hair! That's no fun!"

"But it's true!" He argued back as the orange tabby rested on his lap. "Look, she- Wait, no... _He's_ even got green eyes! This is totally you!"

Despite trying her best to glare at him, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a few giggles as she tried to argue back as seriously as she could. "B-But I'm not a boy!"

The two of them just stared at each other in complete silence before bursting out into laughter from their playful banter. Looking at her happy smile and hearing her joyful laughter brought a smile to his own face.

 _This is perfect. She's happy, I'm happy… The two of us are finally together after all this time… Nothing can ruin this!_

After calming down from her laughing fit, Setsuna placed the cat in her lap back on the ground before bringing her glass of juice up to her lips. "Hey, Shu…"

"What's up?" He questioned while letting the orange tabby affectionately rub his head against his hand.

With a serious look in her eyes, she asked in a quiet voice, "…Are you really happy with me?"

 _What's with this serious sounding question? Does she really need to ask?_

To dispel the gloomy aura behind her question, Nijimura got up from his chair to sit on the same couch as her. She was slightly confused when he took her glass of juice from her hands and placed it back on the table. Without waiting even a second, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course I am! Seeing you happy and smiling makes me happy, so don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine just as long as you're happy."

The sudden embrace made the people around them stare. Embarrassed, she returned the embrace and proceeded to bury her face into his shoulder. "…I'm glad."

Before leaving the cat café, he asked her to wait for him here while he went out to get something. In the meantime, he stopped by a nearby flower shop to pick up a bouquet of flowers like his mom had told him to do before he had to drop her off at her house. While in the flower shop, he eyed all the flowers carefully before spotting the perfect one. "Excuse me, can I have a bouquet of this?"

When he returned, he held the bouquet out for her. "Here, for you before I bring you home."

Setsuna's eyes were wide and sparkled with joy as she took the small bouquet of sunflowers with white lily accents from his hand. "This is so pretty! Thank you, Shu!"

 _Anything to keep you happy and smiling just like that._

He smiled at her before holding out one of his hands to her, bowing his head. "Glad I could bring a smile to your face, my lady. Now then, would you do me the pleasure of allowing me to escort you home?"

She snorted before placing her hand in his. "You may, kind sir." As the two of them walked side by side, she continued to look down at the bouquet in her hand with a fond smile. "You're stupid, you know that?"

Looking over at her, he just shook her head and smiled while giving her hand a tight squeeze. "I'm just stupidly in love with you, that's all."

"…I love you too, Shu." She muttered quietly while looking away from him.

The walk home was lighthearted just like their date today, the two of them talking about whatever crossed their mind, from stupid jokes to random stories. Before they realized it, they were already standing in front of her house. "Well, here's your stop. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Setsuna nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, Shu-"

He cut her off by leaning down and planting a quick kiss on her lips. After pulling away, he shot her a charming smile. "Good night to you too, Tsuna…"

The way she stared up at him with wide emerald green eyes and blushed at that moment was absolutely adorable. She only responded with a nod of her head before slowly letting go of his hand and waving goodbye before disappearing into her house. Only after the door shut behind her did he stuff his hands into his pocket before walking home.

"I'm home!" To his surprise, his mother was sitting alone at the dining table. Probably the thing the unsettled him the most was the serious look on his mother's face as she was typing away on her laptop. "…Mom? What's up?"

Removing her glasses from her face, she let out a sigh before turning to look at him. "After you graduate from Teiko, we're moving to America."

"…"

He wasn't sure how to react. Parts of him were secretly hoping she was just joking, but the way she looked right into his eyes made her message clear.

 _She's serious…_

Slowly, he shook his head in denial. "No way… Why? W-We don't have to, right?"

"It's for your dad's treatment…" She didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point. "The doctor said that moving to America would be the best choice. I already agreed to it, and I decided we're leaving after you graduate."

 _Why…?_

"I figured leaving after the school year ends would just make registering for school there easier for us." She kept talking, but Nijimura just tuned out everything she was saying to him as many thoughts ran through his mind.

 _Things have been going so well, why the hell are you springing this on me now?!_

"…ter graduation, so you better be packed up and ready to go-"

He didn't want to listen to this anymore. Before she could say anything else, he quickly ran out of the house just to shake off the cold feeling in his body.

 _Why now? Why are we leaving Japan? Why can't he just be treated here? Why…?_

Nijimura slowed down when he reached the outside of Setsuna's house. He rested his hands against his knees as he panted heavily. After he caught his breath, he bit his lower lip in an attempt to distract himself from the tears that stung his eyes and threatened to fall.

 _Why are you separating us when we're finally happy…?_

"Oh my, Shuzo-kun? What are you doing here?"

After wiping the sweat from his face and blinking back the tears, he straightened his posture as he looked up at Rin. "Sorry Mrs. Miyamoto… I know I already saw her today, but is it okay if I talk with Tsuna? Something kinda important came up, and I want to talk to her about it…"

Rin just smiled, an apologetic look in her dark gray eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry dear… You see, today tired her out and she honestly passed out as soon as she went up to her room."

 _Of course… Today was a long day, so I shouldn't bother her and let her rest…_

Nijimura shook his head in understanding. "… I-I see… Sorry to bother you."

She just flashed him the signature Miyamoto smile. "It's no bother, but I'll be sure to let her know you wanted to talk to her."

After bidding farewell to Setsuna's mother, he just continued to walk around. He didn't know where he was going, but he just didn't want to go home with all these distressing thoughts on his mind.

 _I need to talk to someone, but who…?_

Since Setsuna was out of the question, that didn't leave him many choices. As he arrived at the wooden bridge in the park and leaned against the rails, he brought out his phone and scrolled through the multitude of numbers in his contact list. Most of these were people he wasn't particularly close with, so it'd be downright awkward if he just called one of them out of the blue. However, one name in his list of contacts caught his eye.

 _ **Hana Seo**_

"Here goes nothing…" After shrugging his shoulders, he pressed the call button before placing his phone near his ear, waiting as the dial tone rung before someone picked up.

"… _Well this is a name I haven't seen for a long time. How're you doing, Captain Bakamura?"_

Hearing that familiar nickname made him snort. "Very funny, but I'm not captain anymore, so that name can't work anymore."

Hana hummed when she heard that. _"Hmm, is that so? I'm assuming the name of captain went to the young master?"_

He rolled his eyes. "Of course it did. Who else could've been picked for captain?"

" _True… I'm assuming Mr. Lucky Item became vice then."_ She let out a quick laugh before sighing. _"But alright, I'll stop joking around. It's rare for you to message me, so getting a call must mean something's up. Something pretty serious, I assume?"_

He nodded in response. "I'll just cut to the chase since you can probably already guess everything without me telling you, but I'm moving to America after I graduate from Teiko."

She hummed after hearing that. _"I see… So because the two of you are finally dating, you resent this decision. Since it's already pretty set in stone, you fear for Miyana's future without you by her side, right?"_

Like usual, she's spot on. "Pretty much." He nodded in agreement while looking down at the river. "I mean, Tsuna's planning on going to a good high school, so I don't have to worry about Haizaki following her or anything, but-"

" _You're concerned about the people she'll meet after you leave."_ Hana cut in knowingly.

Nijimura nodded again. "Do you even need me to say anything or do you just read my mind?"

She blew a raspberry into the receiver before laughing as she shook her head. _"Please, you're easier to read than a picture book. Anyway, concerning your thoughts about what'll happen to Miyana after you move away… I'm sure you two will be fine. Honestly, it might be good for the both of you if you go through this."_

His brow furrowed together as he continued to stare down at the river decorated with lights from the nearby park lamps. "What do you mean?"

" _Well…"_ Hana paused for a bit, humming a tune while gathering her thoughts before continuing. _"You two pretty much only have each other. Sure, Miyana still has Mizuki-senpai and Umi-chan, but she's not super close with them like how she was with you and me. On top of that, Mizuki-senpai is away at Rakuzan while Umi-chan is doing a study abroad program, and well… The two of us aren't friends anymore, so that pretty much just leaves you as her only real friend."_ After explaining that it, she paused again. _"Basically, while it's fine to have that one friend that super important to you and all that jazz, maybe you two being apart will finally let the two of you grow as people."_

"…" He was struck silent because he was unsure of what to say.

Despite the fact he didn't say anything, Hana already knew what to say to him. _"I know you're hesitant because you're trying to protect her, but you gotta let her experience things for her own, you know…? She needs to meet more people, experience all the negative things like sadness and pain… It's all apart of growing up and you shouldn't shelter her from that. I understand that the whole ordeal with Haizaki made you even more overprotective than ever before, and I know you wouldn't want her to feel sad or get hurt again, but… It might be best to move on with your own lives just for the sake of letting the two of you grow up as people."_

Here, he started to shake his head. "But I promised her-"

" _I know, Nijimura."_ Hana interjected to get him to stop so she could continue to explain her point of view. _"But you can't always be there for her. It's painful to admit, but it's just the truth. Besides,"_ On the other end, Hana smirked. _"the two of you need to learn how to make friends. The fact that you decided to call_ me _of all people really goes to show you don't have many friends."_

He glared up at the sky at her words. "Shut up, Hana-senpai."

She chuckled. _"Just saying… So, was that all you wanted to talk about then?"_

After thinking about it, he nodded. "Yeah, I just needed to get this off my chest and talk about it with someone… Thanks for hearing me out, Hana-senpai."

She smiled at hearing his gratefulness. _"No prob. I'm glad you called me though. I'll be honest, I've been worried about you, but you sound like you've been doing well since I last saw you."_

Even though she couldn't see it, he also returned the smile. "Same to you, Hana-senpai. You sound like you're doing well."

"… _Is that so? I'm glad, then…"_

The way her voice trailed off there roused some confusion in him. "Senpai…?"

" _Ah, sorry… It's just late and I need to get some sleep, that's all."_ She reassured with a small chuckle before letting out a tired yawn into the receiver. _"Well, if you ever want to talk about anything again, just call or message me, okay?"_

He nodded while closing his eyes. "Sure… Thanks, Hana-senpai."

"… _No prob, kiddo."_

After hanging up and putting his phone away in his pocket, Nijimura decided to stay into the park and contemplate over her words, trying to decide what would be the best decision for him to make. He stayed in that one spot for at least ten minutes until he decided he was calm enough to return home. While walking home, he couldn't stop himself from frowning as various bad scenarios played over and over in his mind.

Despite his fears, he decided to tell her the next day at school.

"You'll be moving to America a week after graduation?" Setsuna questioned while cocking her head to the side.

Nijimura didn't want to break the news to her so soon, but he didn't want to put it off. He figured the sooner he told her, the better. "…Yeah. I found out recently, but I needed to tell you as soon as possible. Sorry to kinda ruin the mood…"

"It's okay, the mood isn't ruined or anything." She shook her head while bringing the chopsticks up to his mouth, her hand resting under in case anything fell. "Here, open wide."

"Ahhh…" After she put the piece of tamagoyaki in his mouth, he groaned as he savored the flavor on his tongue. "…Ugh, I'm gonna miss your cooking, Tsuna…"

She nodded after putting a piece in her own mouth. "Mm… I would miss my cooking too."

"Tsuna!" He whined while she just let out a small laugh. After a while, he rested his head against her shoulder while letting out a sigh. "It's not just your cooking… I mean that I'll miss _you_ a bunch."

When she finished her bento and packed it up, she couldn't help but giggle. "Hehe, sorry! It's just…" After wrapping the bento and placing it in her bag, she looked over at him and gently placed a hand on his. "I was just thinking… Even if we're far apart, will you really still be happy with me?"

 _This again…?_

He didn't hesitate. He intertwined his fingers with hers and smiled at how perfect her hand felt in his. "Of course, Tsuna. I love you and I'm willing to do whatever I can to keep you happy." Without warning, he turned towards her to plant a kiss on her cheek before going back to close his eyes and rest his head against her shoulder. "I just want to see you happy."

Unknown to him, Setsuna looked down at the ground with a small smile and nodding her head. "I love you too, Shu… I'm sure we'll be okay."

* * *

Months became weeks, weeks became days, and days became hours… Time just flew by so fast, and before he realized it, it was already graduation day at Teiko. For Nijimura, the ceremony felt so surreal… Everything just flashed by so quickly that he couldn't even process that it happened.

"Congrats Bakamura! You actually did it."

Hearing that familiar voice, his eyes widened when he saw a familiar shade of chocolate brown hair and a set of ocean blue eyes. "Hana-senpai? Whoa, you cut your hair!"

As the older girl walked up to him with a smile, she greeted him with a playful punch to the shoulder before running a hand through her shoulder length hair. "Yeah, it was getting too long and I wanted to try having shorter hair. Anyway, I decided to come see you since you'll be leaving for America in a week. Also to congratulate you for even passing in the first place."

He rolled his eyes at her unnecessary comment. "Sure, say what you will, but my grades were good this year."

She just laughed at him. "Hah, I know you're smart! But anyway," Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a serious look. "Have you and Miyana decided what to do about your relationship? Will you guys be doing long distance?"

Hesitantly, he shook his head. "No, actually… We haven't decided what to do yet. We usually try to avoid talking about it since it just makes us depressed, but we do need to decide soon…"

Hana nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you got a week before the big move. Ah, I'm sure you two will be fine though." After saying her piece, she shot him a smile and waved goodbye to him. "Well, I promised to meet up with someone else while I'm here. Plus I should get away before Miyana spots me…"

Nijimura nodded in understanding. "Yeah, thanks. It was nice seeing you, Hana-senpai. Keep in contact with me if you can, okay?"

"There's always emails!" After nodding her head and bidding farewell to her friend, Hana walked away from him and headed towards the practically empty area near the school's incinerator. Here, she was met with the familiar face of the person she absolutely despised. "So… What do you want?"

Haizaki smirked at her before looking away, his gaze returning to the ashes sitting inside incinerator. "I'm amazed you actually bothered to come meet me, Hana."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she growled a bit. "Look, I'm only here to listen to what you got to say, that's all!" To calm herself down, she sighed before continuing. "Besides, you're the one that reached out to _me_ , not the other way around. Don't you _dare_ get the wrong idea."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Haizaki replied with an annoyed tone as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "It's just because you and I both know something that my idiot ex-captain doesn't know. While he can be blissfully ignorant, you're just too smart to believe that this is all over…"

Hana's grip on her arm tightened. "…It's true that there's just too many unanswered questions, especially considering Miyana hasn't given Nijimura many answers as to why…"

The younger boy just smiled as he saw the thoughtful expression she had. "And the only other person you can go to for answers is the person who was in a relationship with her at that time…"

She groaned while bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, this is pathetic. I don't want to go to anyone, especially _you_ …" Her nose crinkled in disgust before she relaxed. "…But I need answers, Haizaki… Otherwise I just can't let this go…"

"Heh, I can give you answers, but they won't be straightforward. You gave me a lot of shit, so it's only natural I give it back. Besides, I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it all out, Ms. Valedictorian." He teased with a condescending smile.

Her eye twitched in annoyance as she shot a heated glare at him. "Whatever, Haizaki! Look, if you have time to annoy me, you have time to answer me! I just want answers, so tell me!" Quickly, she shook her head to regain her composure before questioning in a calm tone. "…Why did you two date in the first place?"

Things were silent, the only noise going on around them being the animated chatter from the people hanging around the school for graduation. After what seemed like forever, he finally spoke in a quiet voice, one so quiet that Hana almost didn't hear him. "…Scapegoat."

Her eyes widened for a second before narrowing at his answer. Slowly, her mind trying to process what he just said. "Wha…? But Miyana said-"

"Everyone is capable of lying, it's just up to you to decide who's telling the truth." A small smirk curved on his lips as he said this. "That's all I got to say to you. Besides, I can't deny that it's interesting to watch the two of you tear your hair out over this. Consider it my revenge to both of you for all the crap you've given me in the past." Haizaki's eyes also narrowed in her direction, the glare was playful but almost just hateful as the glares she gave him earlier.

When she thought about his answer, it took her about two minutes of deep thinking until everything came together. Her eyes widened with surprise and disbelief while her head shaking slowly from side to side. "…You've gotta be fucking kidding me, Haizaki… You mean to tell me that-"

A devilish smirk curved on Haizaki's lips as he saw the color drain from Hana's face. "How's it feel to know you were _wrong_ this entire time, Hana? Doesn't it hurt?"

Cold sweat ran down the back of her neck and her entire body started to feel cold. Her hands were even shaking a bit from the chills that ran down her spine. It took a while before Hana managed to regain her self-control, so when she finally did, she just looked up at Haizaki as calmly as she could. "…If that's the case, then…" Her cerulean blue eyes shot a cold glare right back at Haizaki. "…Who was it?"

Haizaki just continued with that condescending smirk curved on his lips. "…I think you mean to ask who _is_ it, Hana."

* * *

"Are you all packed up?" Yuri questioned as she stood at the doorway of his room.

Looking over his empty room with his luggage in hand, Nijimura nodded. "Yeah, this should be it."

 _The week after graduation flew by… I spent all my time with Tsuna, but that just made it harder to leave…_

"Well, the taxi is almost here, so help me bring down the luggage." She called out while carrying her own luggage down the stairs.

 _We already said our goodbyes… But it's hard to let go…_

The reality of everything happening finally started to sink in as he stared out at the city from behind the window of the taxi car while on the way to the airport. As he passed certain places, he couldn't help but frown when he thought about how much Setsuna would enjoy having a date there.

 _I wish I wasn't being torn away from you like this, Tsuna… There's still so much more we could do together._

Even as he walked up to the desk to get his plane ticket, the thought of her was still running strong through his mind.

 _I wish I had more time to be your boyfriend. Maybe if I confessed to you earlier, I could've made you happier for longer… Maybe you wouldn't have suffered if I just did something instead of running away…_

While walking towards the security check with his luggage in tow, he continued to space out while reminiscing on all the sweet memories he made with her.

 _I could've protected you… From the people who bullied you… From Haizaki… From the injuries_ _…_

"…hu!"

 _But this is it… I can't protect you like before…_

He smiled to himself, albeit bitterly. "At least we're still together… And she won't be heartbroken even after I move away."

"SHUUU!"

Hearing that familiar voice made him snap back to reality, his eyes widening in disbelief.

 _There's no way…_

Slowly, he turned around to see Setsuna running towards him while violently waving her arm around to catch his attention. Narrowly avoiding someone's luggage, she lost her balance and fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Ow!"

"Tsuna?!" Nijimura abandoned his luggage and quickly ran towards her to help her get off the ground. "What the heck are you doing here- Wait, you're bleeding?!"

Looking down at her left foot, he noticed her white knee sock was soaked with red near her ankle.

Quickly, she shook her head to dispel his worries. "D-Don't worry about that! I was… I was just being stupid… a-and got this when my foot hit someone's luggage on accident." She explained in between tired pants. After catching her breath, she began to dig through her tote bag. "As for why I'm here… I… I came to see you off and give you this! I was worried it wasn't going to come in on time, but it came in as you were leaving your house. A-Anyway, here." After digging through her tote bag, she pulled out a small box and quickly shoved it into his hands.

Seeing her give the okay, he slowly opened it to reveal a silver chain sitting inside the box. Pulling it out, he noticed a silver key pendant hanging on it. While staring at it, he couldn't process it. "Tsuna… What's this for?"

She just smiled before pulling out a black choker from her tote and putting it on her own neck. Now that he could see it on her, he noticed the silver lock pendant. "It's so we never forget each other! Well, not like we could forget each other… It's more like a gift from me to you to celebrate us." Holding the lock pendant between her index and thumb, she used her other hand to point at it. "You see, it means we're a pair that's always going to need each other, no matter how far apart we are!"

After hearing her explanation, Nijimura quickly put it on. Feeling the cool metal against his neck, he took a hold of the small silver key pendent between his fingers and smiled fondly. "…Thanks, I'll treasure it."

Giggling into her hand, she nodded happily. "Good, I'm glad you like it. It really does suit you!"

Looking around, he noticed that not many people were looking in their direction. "Hey, Tsuna…"

"Hmm?" Her eyes widened when he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, his eyes closing as he leaned in to plant a kiss on her lips.

 _As a goodbye…_

He was shocked when she placed her hands on his chest to push him away, looking to the side with slightly red cheeks. Immediately, he felt bad and backed away before bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head. "S-Sorry…! Was I being too sudden?"

She shook her head, still avoiding his eyes. "N-No, it's not your fault, Shu! Really, it's not… It's just…" Her eyes continued to avoid his and he couldn't help but feel uneasy. "T-There's another reason I came here, aside from the necklace…" Their eyes met and this was when Nijimura could see the remorse in her bright emerald green eyes. "Simply put, we need to talk…"

 _Tsuna, those words are scary when you're looking like that... And why have you been avoiding my eyes this whole time…?_

There was a cold feeling of anxiety crawling into his heart as those thoughts ran through his mind, but he did his best to push it away and respond with a small smile. "W-What is it, Tsuna?"

A small frown curved on her lips as she pressed them together. Her lips trembling a bit as she struggled to get her words out. When she spoke, Nijimura felt his entire body go numb as he just stared down at her with disbelief in his wide eyes.

"…Shu, I think… It's better if we break up."

 _…What…?_

As if she read his thoughts, Setsuna repeated herself even though he didn't want to hear it. "…I want to break up with you…"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

EDIT (January 3 2017): Small edits were made to fix some errors.

Any errors spotted after this is posted will be edited and fixed when I see them.

If you haven't already, please take the time to vote on the poll on my profile (only viewable on PC, not mobile devices). The poll is currently at a tie and it needs to be broken, so I would really appreciate if you could take the time to vote!

You can visit my tumblr (AriYukimoto) for writing updates and detailed OC profiles.

Once again, thank you for reading. Please show support for the series by favoriting, following, or leaving a review. I would really appreciate it.

-Ari


	10. Memories Chapter One

**Warning: This chapter briefly mentions the topic of suicide and underage drug use.**

 **I highly recommend reading the previous two stories before reading this. This first chapter covers the backstory of one of the characters present in the previous two stories.**

* * *

 _Having feelings for someone just brings sorrow to someone else. Someone always gets sacrificed and suffers. Love can't guarantee your happiness, so it's better to forget about it all._

 _Everything is fine… I'm fine…_

"Appa! How was that?"

The man with short black hair and cerulean blue eyes smiled widely as he caught the orange ball in his hands before placing it on the ground next to his feet. "That was an amazing shot, Mi-Yeong!"

The little girl with short chocolate brown hair and matching cerulean blue eyes named Mi-Yeong smiled widely as she ran towards her father, leaping into his outstretched arms an wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you, Appa! I couldn't have done it without you!"

The man named Yeong-Rae just smiled as he held her in his arms. "Of course, my little flower. Now, shall we head home? I remember you telling me that you wanted to practice piano today, too."

The young girl nodded her head in an energetic manner with a bright smile on her face. "Yeah, let's go home! I want to play a song for you, Appa!"

After he set her down on the ground, she bent down to pick up the basketball and handed it to him. Tucking the basketball under one arm, he held one hand out for her to hold before the two of them proceeded to walk home together.

Once they arrived home, Mi-Yeong hurriedly kicked her shoes off of her feet and ran into the bathroom to wash her hands before she would touch the piano. After Yeong-Rae finished washing his hands, he chuckled when he came into the living room to see his daughter already sitting on top of the bench.

Her eyes sparkled expectantly at her father as tapped the spot next to her with her hand. "Appa, right here please! Hurry hurry!"

"I'm coming!" He smiled as he sat right next to her. He then lifted the fallboard up in order remove the long piece of cloth covering the shiny black and white piano key. "Now, do you know what you want to play today?"

"Hmm…" Mi-Yeong brought her hands up to her mouth, humming thoughtfully. Once an idea hit her, she lowered her hands from her face and nodded confidently. "Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2!"

Yeong-Rae smiled as he took the folder of sheet music sitting on the music rack and began searching for the piece. "You really love Chopin pieces, don't you?"

She nodded energetically while placing her feet onto the pedals. "I like the way his pieces sound the most!" Before he could continue searching through her folder of sheet music, Mi-Yeong placed her hand on his wrist to stop him. "Actually, Appa… I don't think I need the sheet music this time."

When she said that, his eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

Nodding her head once, she looked up at him with confidence. "Just sit back and listen, please?"

Agreeing to her request, he placed the folder back on the rack and looked down at her with a smile. "Alright, whenever you're ready."

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers gently against the keys. Once she exhaled her breath, she opened her eyes and her fingers began to dance across the keys fluidly, playing the piece almost perfectly despite the lack of sheet music. Once she finished playing, she slowly pulled her hands away from the piano and stared up at her father expectantly. "How was that?"

After a few seconds of staring at her with complete astonishment, he clapped his hands. "That was beautiful, Mi-Yeong… The way you played that, it sounds exactly like the way your mom played-"

When he said that, two pairs of cerulean blue eyes widened. At the mention of her mother, a frown curved on Mi-Yeong's lips and she bit her lip to hold in her tears. "Appa…?"

Trying to hide the frown, Yeong-Rae looked down at his daughter with the best smile he could manage while running a hand over her daughter's head. "Yes, Mi-Yeong?"

Despite his efforts, the frown stayed as her gaze shifted back to the black and white keys. The small tears that pooled in the corner of her eyes began to fall down her cheeks as her lips began to tremble. "…Omma… Does she hate me…? Is that why she left us…?"

He cursed himself under his breath for making his own daughter cry. Letting out a heavy sigh, he just wrapped an arm around her body and held her close, letting her sob while her tears soaked into his shirt. In a quiet and gentle tone, he shushed her while holding the back of her head firmly. "Shh shh, everything will be fine… You'll be fine, my little flower… Please don't cry… You see, Sun-Mi-" Quickly, Yeong-Rae bit his tongue before continuing. "No, I mean… Your mom doesn't hate you, Mi-Yeong. She… She just wasn't ready to take care of you because she was so young when you were born… But that's why I'm here, so I can take care of you and make sure you won't be alone."

Pushing herself away so she could wipe away the leftover tears with her hands, she looked up at him. "Can you… Tell me things about Omma?"

"Of course I can. There's so much I can tell you about her, so let's see…" Yeong-Rae's eyes shifted to the keys of the piano and he smiled fondly before bringing a hand up to gently run his fingers over the keys. "This piano… We bought it because your mom loved playing music more than anything. She could play just about anything, but the piano in particular was her favorite. A lot of the pieces you like are the same as her."

At the mention of this, Mi-Yeong's eyes began to sparkle with awe. "I like the same music that Omma liked?"

He nodded while running his hand over the worn folder of sheet music. "Yeah. While you were in her tummy, she would sit at this piano and play for you. She hoped that you would grow up to love the piano like she did."

"Wow… Is there anything else I have in common with Omma?" Mi-Yeong questioned. Her curiosity about her mother growing more and more with each passing second.

"Hmm… Let's see… Oh, you both have remarkable memory. Just like what you just did, she didn't need sheet music for her favorite pieces and played them all by memory." With a serene smile, he ran his hand over her head gently. "Your brown hair… That's a trait you inherited from your mom…" His hand then trailed down to hers. "You both share the same weird counting habit with your fingers… And I think it's because you both play piano, but you're both ambidextrous as well."

Mi-Yeong's brows furrowed together in confusion as her head tilted to the side. "A-Ambi… Ambide… What's that?"

Yeong-Rae chuckled at her attempt to say the word. "Ambidextrous, it means you can use your left and right hand equally. See, you know how you can use chopsticks with both hands? That's ambidextrous."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Eh, you mean not everyone is ryoutekikino?"

He shook his head with an amused smile on curved on his lips. "No, Mi-Yeong… Not everyone is ryoutekikino…" Yeong-Rae chuckled as he ruffled the top of her head. "Honestly, how do you know the Japanese meaning of that word?"

"I saw it when I was looking up words in a Japanese dictionary!" She explained excitedly.

Yeong-Rae couldn't help but smile. "I see… Well, there's another thing you share with your mother… You both like mixing your Japanese and Korean into one sentence whenever you're talking to me." He pointed out with a light-hearted chuckle.

Mi-Yeong's cheeks puffed up in annoyance as she lightly hit his shoulder. "You can understand both languages anyway, so it doesn't matter which language we use!"

He let out a hearty laugh while jokingly rubbing the shoulder she hit. "I know, I know! Besides, it's good you know both since we'll be moving to Japan a few months from now."

A small smile curved on her lips when she thought about the big move. "Yeah… I can't wait to live there with Appa! We're gonna have fun while we're there, right?"

Yeong-Rae smiled solemnly as he ran a hand over her hair gently. "Mi-Yeong… There are a few things I want you to always remember… Promise me you'll remember them, okay?"

She nodded energetically. "I promise!"

He then began to hold up his fingers with each thing. "First, I always want for you to do what makes you happy… Second, life comes with hardships, but I want you to develop the strength to overcome them. And third…" He paused, pressing his lips together before continuing. "…No matter what happens, I will always love you and your mother."

Mi-Yeong nodded as she held her father in a tight hug while rubbing her face against his chest. "I'll always love you and Omma too! Omma may not be with us, but as long as I have you, then I'll always be happy!"

Returning the hug, he bit his tongue to distract himself from the sting of tears in his eyes. "…You'll always be my little flower. I'll always treasure you and love you."

 _You know, the words you told me that day… Those words stayed with me, Appa…_

A few months passed since then. Despite preparing for the move, Mi-Yeong continued her usual schedule: attend school, go to her music lessons after school ended, then head home to do her homework and help pack to prepare for the move. If the two of them got tired from packing, he would get out their basketball and offer to take her to the nearby court to play. For her, the times where she could go outside to play with her father were probably the things that kept her the happiest during the tough times she experienced at school.

After her last day at school finished and cleaning duties were over, Mi-Yeong finished packing up her things in her bag and slung it over her shoulders before walking towards the door.

"Thank God she's finally moving away."

There was a small frown on her face as she heard her classmate's whispers.

"She's going to Japan, right?"

"She can finally go be with her people!"

Ignoring all their words, she just shut the classroom door behind her and kept walking.

 _You said you wouldn't leave me alone… You said you would treasure me…_

"You were wonderful today, Mi-Yeong." An older woman with violet eyes and bleach blonde hair styled in a bob commented with a smile as she placed a hand on Mi-Yeong's shoulder. "I'm sad to see you go… You're, without a doubt, the best student I've ever had. I still can't believe you've already come to the point where you can memorize pieces."

"That's all because of you." Mi-Yeong commented as she put on her shoes before turning around to bow her head towards her teacher. "Thank you for everything you taught me, Eun-A- Oh, I mean, seon-saeng-nim."

Eun-A just smiled while she began to pack up her sheet music in a thin binder. "Please, I'm fine with you calling me Eun-A… Seon-saeng-nim sounds too uptight for my liking…"

Stubbornly, Mi-Yeong shook her head. "It's not right, seon-saeng-nim."

Eun-A chuckled. "Of course, you're too persistent to convince otherwise…" After she finished packing her binder of sheet music, she held it out to her. "Here, I want you to have this."

Cocking her head to the side, the young girl took the binder in her hands before looking back at her piano teacher. "What's all this…?"

"It's a gift from me." Eun-A explained while pointing at the binder. "You see, I have some original compositions I wrote in there. Someday, I will come see you in Japan… And when that day comes, please play them for me, okay?"

Now realizing the importance of the binder and its contents, Mi-Yeong nodded while holding it close to her chest like it was the most important thing to her. "I understand… I will learn seon-saeng-nim's original compositions and play them!"

A smile curved on the elder woman's face as she brought her hand up to wave goodbye. "Thank you, Mi-Yeong… Take care while you're in Japan, okay? You can always keep in contact with me through my email, okay?"

"Yes. Goodbye, seon-saeng-nim. Thank you again." After saying her farewells and giving one last hug to her beloved piano teacher, Mi-Yeong left the apartment and began to walk home.

 _You said you would always love me… So why…?_

Once Mi-Yeong arrived home and closed the door behind her, she called out. "Appa! I'm home!"

"…"

She was met with an uncomfortable silence as opposed to the usual warm greeting of "Welcome home!" from her father.

"…Appa?" Confused and concerned, Mi-Yeong bent down to remove her shoes. Walking inside, she placed her bag on the floor while the binder was placed on top of the bench of the piano before walking around her house to search for her father. "Appa! I'm home! Where are you?"

 _Why?_

"Appa! Appa!" No matter how many times she called for him, no matter how loud she called for him, there was no response back. She searched throughout her entire house to check every room she could, but still found no sign of him.

As she stood in front of the door to her father's bedroom, she placed her hand on the doorknob and opened it. "Appa, are you in here-"

The moment her eyes caught sight of the scene before her, her body turned cold as she stopped in her tracks. Losing all feeling in her body, Mi-Yeong's hands fell limply at her sides as slowly sunk to her knees.

She wanted to look away, but her eyes stayed glued to the scene. She wanted to scream, but her voice wasn't there. She wanted to shake her head in denial, but she couldn't move. In the end, all she could do was stare with wide cerulean blue eyes as she watched her father's body hang limply from the ceiling with a rope around his neck.

 _Why did you lie to me?_

* * *

"Just go back to your own country!"

"…"

"You're not wanted here!"

 _Just keep ignoring him… He'll leave you alone eventually…_

Even after moving away from Busan, the discrimination she received from her classmates for being a "half" followed her. Mi-Yeong expected this though… Since she was a half, of course there would be people who would shame her for it. However, she admits that this time was a lot easier, seeing that there's really only one person giving her a hard time about being a half. Thankfully, the rest just chose not to care about it.

"Your hair and eye color look so ugly!" He continued to insult her, thinking up of any degrading thing he could come up with in hopes of putting her down.

 _Don't listen to him and be proud of who you are… Your appearance is nothing to be ashamed of._

The boy teasing her narrowed his eyes at her when he saw that she wasn't giving him the reaction he wanted. A menacing smile curved on his face as he thought of the perfect thing to push her. "You know, it's because you were born that your father decided to kill himself!"

That certainly got her attention. Mi-Yeong stopped in her tracks, gripping onto the straps of her backpack as she began to lose her self-control. Her body went completely cold for a few seconds before a burning rage began to fill her entire being. Releasing her death grip on her bag straps, Mi-Yeong's hands tightened into fists as she quickly turned to face her bully. With a glare full of hatred, she pulled her arm back to prepare for a punch.

"Stop it!"

Mi-Yeong flinched at the sound of another voice. She managed to regain her senses and stopped herself from throwing a punch when a girl ran in between them, acting as a barrier between her and the boy teasing her.

 _Who is this…?_

The girl in front of her was shaking as she spoke. "Y-You really should stop saying these mean things to her!"

 _Why is she doing this…?_

"I saw a police officer earlier, so you better hurry and get out of here or I'll tell on you!"

Letting down her defenses, Mi-Yeong's hands lowered as she stared at the scene that played out before her.

The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking off. "Whatever… Don't think you won, halfie!"

After she managed to chase him away, the girl let out a sigh of relief before turning around to look at Mi-Yeong with a bright smile and equally bright emerald green eyes. "That was close… Are you okay?"

Struck speechless at the fact that this girl stood up for her, Mi-Yeong could only manage a single nod.

The green-eyed girl smiled widely before casually brushing her strawberry blonde hair away from her face. "That's good! I just couldn't stand listening to the mean things he said to you! Oh, I hope you don't mind that I did that!"

Despite the kindness this girl showed her, Mi-Yeong couldn't help but feel hesitant about accepting her help. Avoiding her eyes, she looked to the side and backed away from her. "…You didn't have to help me, you know… Besides, I'm a half… You don't want to associate with me."

Confused, the strawberry blonde girl cocked her head to the side. "'Half'…? Oh, you mean you're half Japanese?" Despite not waiting for an answer back, the girl just waved her hand dismissively. "So what? That still doesn't give him the right to be mean to you! Besides, I think it's cool that you're half!"

Mi-Yeong's eyes widened in surprise. Pressing her lips together, Mi-Yeong continued to stare into the girl's eyes, as if trying desperately to find a lie. "…You… You think it's… cool…?"

The girl nodded once. "Yeah! It's not often you get to meet someone of different heritages in Japan! Oh, so if you're half Japanese, then what's your other half?"

Once again, Mi-Yeong was struck speechless. No one ever really expressed interest in her being half, so the fact someone actually wanted to know caught her completely off-guard. After getting over her shock, she managed to stutter out a response. "I-I'm half Korean…"

The girl's mouth was agape in awe as she clapped her hands together excitedly. "That's so cool! Can you speak Korean? Or do you just speak Japanese?"

"I-I speak both…" She replied back shyly while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She really wasn't used to someone asking about her mixed heritage.

"Wow! You can speak two languages! That's amazing!" The strange girl's eyes just sparkled with amazement as she took a few steps forward. "Hey, if you're not busy, do you want to play together? My friends are waiting for me and I think they'd love if I brought another person with me!"

"Huh?!" Frantically, Mi-Yeong shook her head and brought her hands up defensively. "N-No, I-I can't-"

"Aww c'mon!" Without warning, the girl just took a hold of her hand and smiled. "It's more fun to play with friends, right?"

Her cheeks began to flush a bit as she looked down at the ground. "'Friends'…?"

The strawberry blonde blinked a few times before nodding. "Yeah! Let's be friends, so that way we can play together again! Ah, but we should introduce ourselves first!" She let out a small laugh and cleared her throat before pointing to herself. "I'm Setsuna Miyamoto!"

Hesitantly, Mi-Yeong looked at her for a second before quickly averting her gaze away. "I-I'm Mi-Yeong Se-"

 _Wait, no… My name is different now…_

After stopping herself, she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "…No, sorry, that's wrong… I'm K-Kohana Seo." She whispered out hesitantly, as she wasn't very fond of her Japanese name.

To her surprise, Setsuna clapped her hands together excitedly. "Your name is so pretty!"

"Eh?" Mi-Yeong was confused by her reaction. Every time she introduced herself to someone by her Japanese name, they always commented on how strange her name was… "I-It's not weird?"

Setsuna shook her head in response. "No way, I think it's unique! 'Kohana'… It's an uncommon name and makes you one of a kind! I think that's what makes your name wonderful!"

Kohana didn't know how to react to her words, so all she did was stare at Setsuna with wide cerulean blue eyes. "…You're strange…"

Despite the words sounding harsh, Setsuna just laughed it off. "We're all a little strange, so thanks for noticing! Say, since we're friends, can I call you by a nickname?"

Mi-Yeong cocked her head to the side in confusion, chuckling a bit. "W-Why…?"

The smile on Setsuna's face seemed to shine brighter than before, almost making her seem like she was glowing from the inside out. "To symbolize our friendship! Here, I'll come up with one for you, so come up with one for me, okay?"

 _She barely even knows me, yet she wants to be my friend… She knows I'm a half, but she doesn't mind… I said something that would normally offend someone, but she brushed it off like it was nothing…_

Setsuna hummed for a good minute or so before looking back at her and letting out a small laugh. "It's not unique like your real name, but how about I call you 'Hana?'"

…S _he's the nicest person I've ever met since I've moved here…_

Mi-Yeong closed her eyes before giving a small nod. "…Sounds good, Miyana."

Emerald green eyes sparkled with excitement. "Ohhh! Yeah, just like that! I like it! Leave it to Hana to come up with a unique nickname for me!"

From that day onward, Mi-Yeong began to accept the name 'Kohana' as her own and embraced it with pride. On top of that, the move to Japan became a lot more bearable for her now that she had made a friend.

* * *

An entire year passed ever since Kohana and Setsuna first met. Within that past year, the two grew to become close friends and Setsuna and even got to know some of Setsuna's other friends.

"Hey Kohana-san, did you learn Korean first or Japanese first?" A younger girl with medium length black hair questioned curiously before taking a bite of the sliced apple in her hand.

"Oh, I learned Korean first since I was raised in Busan. After I was fluent enough with Korean, my Appa taught me Japanese since he wanted me to retain my Japanese heritage too." Kohana explained while taking a sliced apple from the small plate resting on the nightstand next to the hospital bed.

The young girl's dark pink eyes were wide with surprise. "That's impressive… Your conversational Japanese is impressive for being your second language. You also do very well in school too, seeing that you always rank near the top of your year. I'm honestly in awe at your level of intelligence."

"Ah, t-thanks… U-Umi-sama." Kohana replied bashfully before taking a bite of the apple in an attempt to hide her slightly pink cheeks.

Umi brought her other hand up to her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Kohana-san, wrong honorific. Also, you can drop it if you wish, seeing that we're friends."

When Umi pointed out her mistake, the small blush evolved into a deep flush and completely enveloped Kohana's cheeks in red. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I-It's just that it sounds right because I always hear Jun-san call you that… Oh, and I'm okay with you calling me 'Hana' like Miyana does."

"I'm sorry, but because of my upbringing, I just see it more appropriate to refer to those older than me with respect." Umi explained in an apologetic tone. "Ah, but perhaps I can stick with 'Hana-san' if that's okay with you?"

"Of course! Honestly, I've come to the point where I would prefer to be called 'Hana'…" Kohana admitted with a shy smile. "Oh, wait… If that's the case, then should I use 'Mizuki-san' instead, since she's older than me?" She questioned while look over at the girl with short white hair sitting in the hospital bed.

Mizuki giggled and shook her head. "Just 'Mizuki' is fine when we're together like this! Oh, but when we start going to school together at Teiko, it would be more appropriate for you to use 'Kuramochi-senpai.' But because we're friends, you can use 'Mizuki-senpai' when referring to me, okay Hana?"

Kohana gave an earnest nod in response. "R-Right!"

"Hehe, Hana still has some trouble with certain aspects of speaking Japanese, doesn't she?" Setsuna giggled as she finished cutting another apple, placing the slices on the small plate resting on the nightstand by Mizuki's bed.

"M-Miyana…!" The blush on Kohana's face deepened even more from her embarrassment.

Realizing she embarrassed her best friend, Setsuna quickly shook her head. "Hana, I just think it's cute, that's all! No need to feel embarrassed!" Getting up from her chair, Setsuna walked behind Kohana and wrapped her arms around her to give her a tight and reassuring hug. "You see, I just think it's cute seeing you having trouble with something since you're so amazing at everything you do! You're smart, talented, and pretty!"

Despite her attempt to lessen her embarrassment, Kohana's cheeks continued to burn from Setsuna's words. "T-That last one is subjective, Miyana… B-Besides, when it comes to musical talent, Umi is way better at singing than I am! M-Mizuki also dances better than me… And I think that Miyana is prettier than me… I-I really don't deserve your compliments… Those compliments give me a happiness that I don't deserve…"

"Hana," Mizuki leaned forward to place her hand on top of Kohana's. Though her dark red eyes had a serious look, the kind smile curved on her lips showed her good intention. "You are an amazing person and you deserve to be happy. Umi-chan and I hate seeing you put yourself down like this… Setsuna-chan hates it more because she's known you longer than us, but…" Here, Mizuki intertwined their fingers and held Kohana's hand tightly. "Please, forget about all the mean things people have said to you, because you have us now."

Kohana felt her heart pound loudly in her chest, the rapid beat causing her body to heat up. With shaky and slightly sweaty hands, she held Mizuki's hand back, squeezing it slightly as she nodded. "R-Right… Thank you, Mizuki…"

* * *

If Kohana had to be honest, she always had a feeling that she was different from most girls, but it wasn't until her first year of middle school did she really start to realize it.

"Huh? Who I find attractive?" Kohana questioned before taking a sip from her box of melon milk.

Kotomi, one of Kohana's few upperclassmen friends, nodded excitedly. "Yeah, if you tell me, I'll tell you who I think is attractive!"

 _Not like I really want to know honestly… I'm just hanging out with you because Mizuki is busy…_

Kohana hummed as she began to think. Not many faces popped in her mind when she thought 'attractive'…

 _"Hana!"_

A blush appeared on Kohana's face when Mizuki calling her name came to mind. Well, in her opinion, Mizuki is attractive in a cute way…

After mulling over the thought, Kohana brought her drink away from her lips to answer. "Well… I think Mizuki-senpai is pretty cute."

"Huh?" Confused, Kotomi stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a loud laugh. "Haha, not like that, Hana-chan! I meant _guys_!"

 _Guys…?_

A small frown curled on Kohana's lips. Thinking back on all the guys she's gotten to know with, she never really thought any of them could fall under the category of being attractive in her eyes…

 _Besides, what's so attractive about a guy when he's drenched in sweat from practice…?_

Shrugging her shoulders, Kohana shook her head as she nibbled on one of the onigiri from her bento. "Watanabe-senpai, I can't say I've thought any guys looked attractive to me…"

Pouting, Kotomi glared at her playfully. "That's boring, Hana… But honestly, I think Ebihara-kun is pretty cute and I kind of like him. But what do you think?"

Thinking for a minute, Kohana just shrugged her shoulders again. "Meh, he's alright…"

At her dull response, Kotomi groaned and leaned back against the wall. "Haha, I swear Hana-chan… I can never talk to you about guys."

"If you knew that, then you shouldn't have brought it up…" Kohana sighed as she wrapped up her bento box.

"But you sure are lucky, Hana-chan…" Kotomi commented as she looked over at Kohana with envy in her eyes. "On top of being in student council with Arashi-senpai and Akiyama-senpai, you're even a helper for the basketball club. With how amazing you are at the sport, I thought you would've tried playing on the girl's team instead of just being a helper."

After she packed her bento up, she looked up at the sky while the memories of playing basketball with her father flashed through her mind. "Well, I have my own reasons for not playing… Plus, I think I'm happier just helping the team out so they can improve."

"Seriously?! You didn't join to get a closer look at the guys?!" Kotomi questioned rather loudly.

Kohana blinked a few times and shook her head as the two of them walked back to their classrooms. "…Does everything always have to be about guys?"

"Well yeah… At least, with me, it does." She stated plainly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 _I just don't get the appeal, honestly… Then again, I'm not exactly that close with any guys right now, so it's not like I could form an opinion anyway…_

Once classes ended, Kohana headed straight to the student council room to carry out her duties. After the meeting wrapped up, she sat at the computer desk, typing out the minutes of the meeting on a school computer.

"Say, Hana… This is kind of out of the blue, but can you tell me what you think about Ebihara-kun from class 2-A?" Mizuki questioned as she finished organizing her papers and filed them away.

 _Well he sure is popular…_

Kohana hummed while she placed one of her fingers placed against her lips. She continued to stare at the screen of the computer in front of her before responding back. "Well, I don't talk to him often since he's not in my year… I can't say I know much about him other than what I've heard from you and our classmates." Seeing the look Mizuki was giving her, she let out a small sigh before resuming to type on the word document. "But based just on that, I'd say he seems like an okay person… Why do you ask?"

When she asked that, Mizuki's face immediately turned slightly pink. "Ah, well… N-No reason, I just…" Her dark red eyes shifted around nervously as she finished filing the pile of papers in her hand. "Well I… It's just that I- Never mind!"

Once Kohana finished typing the sentence she was on, she looked over at Mizuki.

 _The way she's acting… It can only mean one thing._

A knowing smirk curled on Kohana's lips. "Do you happen to like him?"

The blush on Mizuki's face intensified tenfold and Kohana's smirk widened as she realized she hit the nail on the head. Looking at Kohana over her shoulder, she muttered, "N-No?"

"Hehe, your have a bad poker face, Mizuki!" Kohana teased playfully.

At that comment, the older girl pouted. "Umi said the same thing… Am I really that obvious?"

Without hesitation, Kohana just nodded bluntly. "Yeah, pretty much."

Mizuki's shoulders sank as she sighed. "If Hana says so, it must be true…" Taking a seat next to Kohana, Mizuki leaned her head against her shoulder and let out another sigh. "Well, can you tell me what I should do? I'm not too sure myself, honestly…"

Looking down at the girl resting on her shoulder, Kohana gave a kind smile before returning her attention to the word document she was typing up. "I say go ahead and confess to him. If you like him, that must mean he's a good person."

Giggling, Mizuki brought her head up and gave a small smile. "Hehe, you think so, Hana?" Not waiting for a response, the smile disappeared from her face and was quickly replaced with an expression full of uncertainty. "You see, I'm asking because… Well, it's just… I'm not too confident in myself since I got rejected every time I confessed to a guy last school year…"

Kohana finished typing and saved the file before turning to look Mizuki right in the eye, cerulean blue meeting dark red. "But this time is different, Mizuki! Those guys you confessed to last year were probably jerks anyway… Ebihara-senpai is a good guy from what I've heard, so I think you don't have much to lose here, you know?" Leaning forward, Kohana placed her hands on Mizuki's shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Go for it! You're an amazing girl and Ebihara-senpai would be lucky to have a chance with you!"

The smile that Mizuki had on her face at that moment made Kohana's heart flutter with happiness. Bringing her hands up to Kohana's, Mizuki gripped them tightly and nodded confidently. "Alright, I'm gonna give it a try then!" Getting up from her chair and putting it back, Mizuki turned back towards Hana and shot her a charming smile. "Thank you, Hana!"

Her heart began to beat loudly in her chest as her cheeks began to heat up slightly. "N-No problem, Mizuki…"

After that, Mizuki got her bag and bid farewell to her friend before skipping out of the student council room cheerfully, leaving Kohana alone in the student council room as she finished closing everything up. As she packed up her bag, Kohana began to wonder to herself, "Now that I think about it… Middle school is usually the time that people start having feelings like that, right?" Kohana hummed to herself slightly. "But I don't really have a guy that I like…"

"Seo, you're still here?"

Snapping out of her train of thought, Kohana turned towards the door to see the student council president, Arashi, leaning against the doorframe. "Oh, Arashi-senpai… I just finished closing everything and was about to leave."

"I see… Thanks for all your hard work, Seo. I'll lock up the room for you, okay?"

"Thank you, Arashi-senpai. I'll see you tomorrow!" Kohana bowed her head to him before waving goodbye as she left the room.

As she walked home, Kohana sighed to herself. "Just what the heck was that earlier…?" Slowly, she brought one of her hands up to her chest, hovering over where her heart lied. "That was weird… Am I sick or something…?"

 _I don't feel sick though…_

"Onee-chan! You're home!"

"Harumi, don't!"

"Huh…? OH!" Suddenly, Kohana was tackled to the ground. After her dizziness passed, she realized there was someone wrapping their tiny arms around her neck in a suffocating hold. "H-Haru, I need air…!"

The child named Harumi yelped and released her grip immediately when she realized she was choking her. "Oh no! Onee-chan, don't die please!"

Sitting up, Kohana took a few deep breaths before giving Harumi a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine now."

Harumi's mint green eyes began to tear up slightly as she wrapped her arms around Kohana's torso. "Thank goodness! I'd be sad if I accidentally killed Onee-chan!"

Chuckling, Kohana ran her hand over Harumi's short brown hair before standing up and picking her up. "I can't die! I'm still young and I've got you and everyone else to look after!"

"Hehe, yay! I love you, Onee-chan!" Harumi cheered as Kohana carried her back to the building.

"Ah, Hana!" An elderly woman with gray hair tied up into a neat bun greeted as she approached her. "I'm sorry you got knocked to the ground… But you know how excited Harumi gets when you come home…"

"I don't mind, Madoka-san. Haru's energy is infectious and always brings a smile to my face after a tiring day at school." Kohana reassured as she set Harumi back on the ground. "Haru, can you check on the others and make sure they did their chores?"

The little girl gave an exaggerated salute. "Yes, Onee-chan!"

As Harumi ran back into the slightly large building, Kohana looked back at Madoka. "So, did someone come for me today?"

Surprised, Madoka's dark grey eyes widened. "Yes… How did you-"

"Whenever Haru tackles me to the ground and gives me a suffocating hug like that, it usually means someone came in today to ask for me…" Kohana said knowingly with a dry smile on curved on her lips.

"…You were always so perceptive, Hana…" Madoka sighed as she continued sweeping the front porch. "Yes, it was actually a lady who came before… The one with ash blonde hair and blue eyes. The fact that this is her fourth time coming here for you just goes to show how much she wants to adopt you."

Rolling her eyes, Kohana tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear while leaning against the aged wooden rails of the porch. "I'm not interested… I have to help you look after all the kids…"

Once she finished cleaning, Madoka stored the broom and dustpan away and looked over at Kohana with a small smile. "Hana, you know I have my own children who will take over this place when it's my time to go-"

"Madoka-san! Don't talk like that!" Kohana cut her off. With her hands clenched into tight fists at her side, she shook her head slightly. "Please… The kids and I… We still need you… A-And I'll take care of you! I-"

"Hana," Madoka's harsh tone made Kohana flinch. Despite the harsh glare, her dark grey eyes still shone with kindness. "You know I just want what's best for you… Orphanages can only support you until your last year in middle school… But his woman can keep your education going… She can even support your college tuition…" This was when small tears started to gather in Madoka's eyes. "You're a wonderful young lady… Smart, beautiful, and talented… You have such a bright future ahead of you, and the longer you stay with me, the more I'm just holding you back from that…"

Stubbornly, Kohana shook her head and stood firmly. "I told you, I plan to get scholarships for high school so I can stay here and help you! That's my own decision, Madoka-san… Please don't feel like you're holding me back from anything."

The two of them continued to stare at each other, neither side wanting to give. After a few minutes, realizing she couldn't change her mind, Madoka let out a small sigh. "…I understand. You're too stubborn to convince otherwise…"

"Of course I am, you raised me." Kohana commented with a small laugh as she opened the front door and started to remove her shoes, placing them on the giant shoe rack before entering the large building.

Rolling her eyes, Madoka followed after her. "…Yes yes, I know that better than anyone. Now get dressed in your home clothes and come help me in the kitchen, Tai said he wanted curry tonight and everyone else agreed to help the two of us."

The color drained slightly from Kohana's face. "I pray that the curry ends up edible this time…"

* * *

 _Why is this happening…?_

The hallway they stayed in was dead silent. Setsuna was seated in one of the chairs lining the wall opposite of the rooms while Kohana paced back and forth impatiently.

The silence was becoming unbearable, so Kohana stopped pacing. As she stood right in front of Setsuna, she broke the silence. "Miyana, do you think they're okay?"

Unsure of how to respond, she just shook her head and folded her hands in her lap. "Well, we can only wait for Umi and see…"

As if right on cue, the door opened. Umi stepped out of the room before closing the door behind her. Both Setsuna and Kohana immediately approached her, the girl just letting out a heavy sigh as she closed her dark pink eyes.

"I hate to be the one to asked, but… How'd it go?" Kohana questioned hesitantly.

Umi just shook her head before looking at the two of them. "It's no good… She won't even talk to me…"

"When I tried, she wouldn't even look at me… Hana, can you try?" Setsuna asked, looking over at the girl.

"H-Huh?! Me?!" Kohana questioned in disbelief while pointing at herself.

"Please Hana-san? We need to try anything! I hate seeing her like this!" Umi was practically begging.

"T-True… Alright I'll give it a go." Placing her hand on the door, she opened it and walked in, closing it behind her before turning to face the girl resting on the hospital bed. Kohana frowned as she noticed Mizuki's gaze stayed glued to the view outside of her window. "M-Mizuki?" Taking a few steps closer, Kohana took a chair to sit near her. Hesitantly, she reached out and placed a hand on Mizuki's shoulder. "Hey, come on… You can't keep being like this. Please, is there anything I can do to help you cheer up?"

Turning towards her, Mizuki gave her a blank stare. Mizuki's usually bright and vibrant eyes had no light in them and that sight was enough to send a shiver down Kohana's spine. "…Hana, look at me."

"H-Huh?" Caught off guard by her monotone voice and the dropping of honorific, she blinked a few times in confusion. "W-Why?"

Without warning, Mizuki placed her hand on Kohana's cheek as she leaned in closer. "Please… Just…"

The feeling of Mizuki's hand against her face immediately made her blush and she lost the ability to turn away. Hesitantly, Kohana looked into Mizuki's eyes, a shade of dark red meeting a cerulean blue hue.

To her surprise, Mizuki leaned in close enough until their foreheads were touching. After a few moments of awkward silence, apart from the rapid pace of Kohana's heart in her own chest drumming loudly, a small smile curved on Mizuki's lips. "Did I ever tell you how pretty your eyes are?"

Heat rushed to Kohana's face, turning her cheeks a darker shade of pink while and her palms became slick with sweat. "W-What?!"

The expression on Mizuki's face looked so serene in comparison to the blank one she had earlier. "That shade of blue is so pretty… It puts me at ease…"

 _Why the heck do I want to just kiss her!?_ _This feeling… What is this…? Friendship, right…?_

Mentally, Kohana shook her head, as her heartbeat became more and more rapid the longer Mizuki stared into her eyes.

 _No… I don't feel this way around Miyana or Umi…_

After that day in the hospital, Kohana had pretty much confirmed to herself that she wasn't like other girls her age. After months of researching on the internet and questioning herself, she decided she was ready.

"Guys, I think I might be gay…"

She finally said it. She couldn't see it, but she could feel Umi and Setsuna's eyes on her. Nervously, Kohana licked her dry lips as she kept her eyes glued to the table between them while her hands tightened into fists against the table's surface.

"…It's about time, Hana-san."

"Huh?" Kohana looked up and saw both Setsuna and Umi giving her encouraging smiles. "W-Wait, what?"

Setsuna reached for one of Kohana's hands to give it a squeeze. "Well… You never really showed an interest in guys ever, so I've had the feeling you were for a while now. Umi recently asked me about it since she thought you would've told me." Setsuna and Umi looked at each other for a moment. "But we felt like it wouldn't be right of us to confront you, so we wanted to wait until you were comfortable with telling us."

Kohana's lower lip trembled a bit. "You guys… Y-You're not disgusted?"

"Of course not! If anything, we're happy for you!" Setsuna then got out of her seat to sit next to her best friend and give her a tight hug. "No matter what your preference is, you're still the same Hana that we know and love."

This was when the tears of joy began to fall from Kohana's eyes. Given the negative view on gay people in Japan, she didn't expect her friends to be so accepting. "I… Thank you, Miyana…"

Setsuna nodded and smiled. "Of course!"

"Hana-san, you're our friend, and that won't ever change. To abandon a friend just because of their preferences isn't right." Umi said as she set her cup down. "But I am curious, and you're free to not answer this question."

Confused, Kohana's head tilted to the side. "What is it, Umi?"

Umi's dark pink eyes met Kohana's cerulean blue eyes in a stare. "Do you happen to have feelings for Mizuki?"

Suddenly, Kohana's heart began to beat faster in her chest as she thought about their white haired friend. "M-Mizuki? Me _like_ Mizuki? What makes you think that?"

With a small smirk curled on her lips, Umi brought a hand up to rest against her cheek. "Well, I'm just curious due to how you act around her."

Raising a curious brow, Kohana brought both her hands up to her slightly flushed cheeks. "Huh?! D-Do I act a certain way around her?!"

"Well," Pulling her hand away from her cheek, Umi began to bring a finger up each time she listed something new. "You blush quite furiously whenever she holds your hand, thanks you for something, calls your name-"

Kohana cut her off by holding a hand up. "Okay okay okay, enough! I get it! Please, no more reminders of all the times I've embarrassed myself in front of her!"

"Oh, well that's a different list entirely."

"Umi!" Letting out a whine, Kohana rested her forehead against the table. "Great, if you noticed, then Mizuki probably did too…"

Umi shook her head dismissively. "I wouldn't worry about it. Mizuki's a little too dense to notice those things. Anyway, I also have another question…" She paused as Kohana raised her head from the table. "What do you plan to do about your feelings?"

"Well, why doesn't Hana just let Mizuki know how she feels?" Setsuna questioned curiously.

Looking over at Setsuna, Kohana smiled dryly. "I… I'm afraid it's not that easy, Miyana…"

Umi nodded in agreement. "Yes, because Mizuki is straight."

There was a small frown on Setsuna's face. "I don't think Mizuki is cruel enough to dismiss Hana's feelings…"

"Well, what Umi said is part of the reason why I can't tell her…" Kohana looked at her two friends. "I mean, think about it… It's not just because Mizuki's straight, but there's also the friendship I have with her."

Both Setsuna and Umi's eyes widened a bit. "Your friendship?"

Kohana nodded slowly. "Yeah, I mean, think about it from Mizuki's point of view… Mizuki confessed to countless guys only to get rejected, and I'm someone she often went to for comfort. Imagine getting a confession from not just a close friend, but a girl friend when you're straight… Wouldn't you be distressed on what to do?"

When she explained it that way, Umi nodded in understanding. "That's true… If she chose to reject you, it may ruin your friendship or she would hurt your feelings…"

Setsuna, who had been silent for a while, spoke up hesitantly, "…But Hana, is that really okay with you?"

Both Kohana and Umi blinked as their gazes shifted over to their strawberry blonde friend. "Miyana…?"

"It's just… Well…" Setsuna paused as she looked down to play with her fingers in a nervous manner. "You know… When you have feelings for someone, wouldn't you want them to know? Especially when it's someone you're so close to… Doesn't it hurt to not tell them?"

Despite seeing the point she made, Kohana just shook her head. "Mizuki doesn't need to deal with my feelings right now, especially given what she's been through concerning her love life. I mean, after being rejected by every guy she's confessed to last year… That must've taken a huge toll on her self-confidence… P-Plus it's her last year at Teiko, and her responsibilities as student council president is just adding onto her stress… As far as I'm concerned, I need to be there for her as a supportive friend."

Looking up, Kohana could see the small frown curved on Setsuna's lips along with the concern in her eyes. "Hana…"

To reassure the two of them, Kohana shot them a confident smile. "I promise, I'll be fine. I mean, who knows? I'm still growing up so these feelings might just be a temporary thing."

Despite the reassurance, Umi and Setsuna looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Kohana. "If you say so, Hana-san… Remember, we're always here to talk if you need anyone."

She nodded. "Sure!"

That was a lie and she knew it. Kohana never spoke up about these feelings ever again and kept them locked up inside of her heart. Despite the months passing, nothing changed. Kohana could only watch from a distance, as Mizuki would be rejected again and again and again. With every time she had to comfort her, Kohana's heart would ache even more.

 _I just want to shower her in the love she deserves… I want to wipe away those tears from her face and kiss her until she forgets all her pain…_

Tightening her hands into fists, she quickly shook her head in an attempt to brush those thoughts away. She had to do something… Find some sort of way to distract herself from her feelings. Honestly, at this point, she was _desperate_.

"Hana-chan?"

Snapping out of her train of thought, Kohana looked up at the person in front of her. "Oh, sorry Mawatari-senpai, I was kind of spacing out…"

Sho Mawatari, the guy standing in front of her, smiled at her and shook his head. "It's alright, but the reason I asked you to meet me here…"

 _I know why you called me here… And you're just what I need to distance myself from my feelings…_

Sho's dark red eyes shifted to the side while his cheeks turned pink. "It's just… I like you, and I want to go out with you."

 _This is all for the sake of forgetting her… This is for the best…_

Kohana nodded her head. "Okay."

"F-For real?!" Sho's eyes lit up as he walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad, Hana-chan… Thank you."

While she did that for her benefit, Kohana didn't realize how much of a mistake she made.

"Oh, Hana! Is it true that you have a boyfriend now?" Mizuki asked as the two of them walked home together.

Embarrassed, Kohana nodded her head as she looked to the side. "Y-Yeah… I-I'm dating Mawatari-senpai."

 _But the truth is that I'm just dating him to forget you… It's been working, at least…_

When Kohana snapped back to reality, she realized Mizuki was no longer at her side. Stopping in her tracks, Kohana turned around to see her friend standing a few feet behind her with eyes wide from shock. "M-Mizuki?"

"H-huh? Oh!" Shaking her head, Mizuki ran to catch up with her. "S-Sorry about that, it just surprised me… S-So how long have you guys been dating?"

Kohana smiled a bit hesitantly. "Not long, just two weeks… He's been good to me though, so I'm glad."

 _I just want to forget you…_

Looking down, Mizuki bit her lip before looking back up at Kohana with a smile. "I see… I-I'm happy for you!"

When Kohana saw that smile, her eyes widened. "Mizu-"

Kohana was cut off when large tears began to stream down Mizuki's face. "I-I… I hope you two are… h-happy together…"

 _I just wanted to forget you…_

After that, Mizuki left Kohana and ran as fast as she could. In her frustration, Kohana turned to kick a nearby light post as hard as she could.

 _I didn't do this with the intention to hurt you…_

* * *

Kohana just sighed as she walked passed the basketball courts. A lone player on the court caught her attention as he bounced the ball on the court. "Well, everything has been said and done… At least Nijimura can take care of Setsuna now… My job is done- Huh?" Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the guy on the court. "That play style looks like Aomine's…"

Before she realized it, she was standing on the court and kept her distance while her eyes were glued to this player with golden blond hair.

After taking a perfect shot, he let ball roll away as he took the time to catch his breath. After wiping away his sweat with the collar of his shirt, he went after the ball but his golden eyes widened with surprise as the ball slowed right in front of her.

Kohana bent down to pick up the ball before looking at him with a smile. "You're pretty good. Have you played before?"

The boy shook his head as he approached her. "Not really…"

Her eyes widened as she held the ball out to him. "Are you serious? The way you play is amazing! I don't think I ever seen a first-time player move like that… That's some serious talent you got there, blondie!"

Depiste the praise she gave him earlier, he frowned and looked offended at the nickname. "The name is Ryota Kise, not 'blondie' or anything like that."

Though she was feeling depressed just earlier over ending her friendship with her best friend, she found herself managing to laugh. "Alright, Kise. But honestly, the way you played looked just like Aomine… I can't believe you saying that you've never played before."

Kise just hummed as he took the ball from her. "I just copied what I saw him doing, that's all…"

"Wait a minute," Kohana's cerulean blue eyes were wide as she stared right into his golden eyes. "You mean to tell me that you never played basketball before, and that you only can move like that because you saw it before?"

He blinked a few times before nodding his head. "Y-Yeah, that's right…"

"That's fucking amazing…" Suddenly, she remembered her position as manager of the basketball club. "Hey, do you think you can consider joining the basketball club next year? With talent like that, I'm sure you'd make it to first string and become a regular!"

Kise just stared at her with disbelief. "Do you… even know who I am?"

She was confused. "What do you mean?"

He looked at her like he couldn't believe those words came out of her mouth. "I'm _Ryota Kise_. You know, the model?"

This only confused her even more. "…Yeah, and?"

"' _And?'_ " He just let out a sigh. "You're telling me to quit modeling for basketball?"

Now it was Kohana's turn to let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes. "I didn't tell you to quit modeling, I just told you to think about joining basketball club. Look, I'm the manager of the basketball club and this recruiting business is kind of my thing."

Kise smiled as he bent down a bit to look down at her eye level. "If that's the case, you can just recruit someone else, can't you?"

Kohana's eyes narrowed before she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't recruit just anyone, I only present the offer to people I see worthy of my time. Besides," A confident smile curved on her lips as she brought her hand up to count. "One: you have the talent and it'd be a shame if you just let it go to waste. Two: if you practice enough now, you won't need to take an advancement test to get into the first string. Three: you'll make a record for being the fastest promotion to the first string. Four: it'll be fun to show up the third years in first string, right? And five: Wouldn't it be even more amazing for you to not only be a model, but also a regular on one of the best basketball teams?"

"The way you count with your fingers is weird… You raise your index and middle first, but you raise your pinky before you raise your ring finger…" Kise commented as he stared at her hand.

She almost couldn't believe him. "Did you seriously pay attention to my hand over what I just told you?"

He smirked while tucking the ball under his arm. "I heard you loud and clear. But just because you told me all that, that doesn't mean I'm gonna join."

"Alright, then how about we make a bet?" Without warning, Kohana stole the ball from under his arm. After dribbling the ball, she took a shot. A smile curved on her lips as the ball swished through the net. "You and me, one-on-one… We'll keep this short, so first to three points wins. If I win, you'll join the basketball club next year."

"Well, what if I win?" Kise questioned as he bent down to pick up the ball.

Kohana hummed as she started to stretch her arms. "Well, what would you want?"

Kise walked up to her before bending down to her eye level. "How about you and I go on a date if I beat you?"

Her eyes widened before she just shook her head at him. "You sure? I'm not exactly the type of person you'd want to date."

He just smiled at her before he began to bounce the ball against the court. "You don't know that."

With that, their game began. It's been a long time since she actually played, but the movements came to her so naturally. Maybe because he was a beginner, she was able to play on par with Kise.

As she continued to play, she had a wide smile on her face at how much fun she was having. Points were scored back and forth between them until they were both one point away from winning.

"I hope you're prepared for that date." Kise said as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

Kohana shook her head in response. "I think you should be preparing to take on less modeling jobs to make time for basketball practice, Kise."

To his surprise, instead of going in for a drive like she's done before, she got into shooting position outside of the three point line and made her shot. "Wha-?"

 _"Yes Mi-Yeong, just like that!"_

Kohana's eyes widened as she heard a voice from behind her. "Appa?!" However, when she turned around, there was no one there.

Meanwhile, Kise's mouth hung open as he watched the ball swished through the net. "What the heck?! How did you make that… shot…? Hey! Are you okay?!"

 _I heard his voice… That was Appa…_

Suddenly, Kohana was brought back to reality when she felt someone touch her face. She looked up at Kise, who had a concerned look on his face. "Huh? What are you…?"

"I don't know! You just started crying all of a sudden!" Kise sighed as he continued to wipe her tears away with his thumb. "C'mon, if anything, I should be the one crying because I lost!"

"O-Oh…" Embarrassed, Kohana brought her hands up to her face. "S-Sorry about that… I just had something on my mind…"

Kise frowned a bit as he looked down at her. "Must've been something sad if you just suddenly burst into tears like that…"

The image of her father hanging from a noose flashed in her mind. "…It was…" To distract herself from the cold feeling in her entire body, Kohana just looked up to Kise and held her hand out to him. "W-Well, good game."

"…Yeah…" Hesitantly, he took her hand and shook it. "So, how did you-"

"Well, that last shot was actually a shot I took by chance… I didn't actually expect to score there." Kohana admitted with a small smile. "If you're asking how I was able to stop some of your plays… The way you played today was basically the same as how Aomine plays… Don't you think the person who manages the team he's on knows his play style well enough to know how to get around it?"

Kise just frowned. "Then why-"

"'Was I able to stop you?' Well, Aomine has years of experience with basketball while you only started recently… Your lack of experience playing the sport was the reason I was able to get around you. However, if I was against someone like Aomine, I probably wouldn't have been successful in stopping him." Kohana explained. "Well, maybe me winning against you today is a sign that joining the basketball club is a good idea."

He continued to pout at his loss. "You sure it was a good thing and not a bad omen on my end?"

With a small smile, she poked his cheek playfully. "Well, I think it'd be a good thing if you joined the basketball club. I mean, if you continue to play and practice, you might even become as good as Aomine." With that, she went to go pick up her bag before walking off. "…I mean, unless your scared of your pretty face getting hit with a basketball…"

Kise just bent down to pick up the ball while she walked off. "Hey, before you go, what's your name?"

Looking over her shoulder, she just winked at him. "Just call me 'senpai.'"

Letting out a chuckle, he put a hand near his mouth so she could hear him. "Well Senpai, I would appreciate if you could come here and help me train before I join officially!"

That offer made Kohana's eyes sparkle before she nodded to him. "You got it, Kise!"

* * *

"Why do you do this to yourself, Hana-san?"

Looking up at the screen of her laptop, Kohana could see the cold look on Umi's face through the Skype call. With a dry smile curving on her lips, Kohana tilted her head to the side. "Now tell me exactly what you mean by 'this,' Umi?"

Umi's eyes narrowed as she brought a hand up to count. "For one, you started smoking…"

"That's just a personal choice, Umi… It's my stress relief." Kohana said as her eyes wandered to her lighter and pack of cigarettes sitting near the edge of her desk. She tried it once after she confiscated a pack from some students and ended up liking the feeling.

"You're _killing_ yourself with those, Hana-san…" Umi stressed the word as her glare intensified. "Next, you cut ties with Mizuki after you started dating Mawatari-senpai."

The memory made Kohana shake her head. "Umi, I had no idea that she confessed to him the same day he asked me out…" Kohana's voice began to crack as she continued. "I… I ended up hurting her! You should've seen the look of betrayal on her face when I told her that I was dating him! I made her cry so much, Umi!"

Letting out a sigh, Umi nodded as she looked down. "Yeah, I remember…" Looking back up at the screen, she frowned a bit. "You also cut off your friendship with Setsuna-san after you graduated."

Kohana's hands began to shake as she tried to hold in her tears. "That… It was to help her…" She remembered the day she discovered the multiple bruises on Setsuna's body for the first time. "…I did that to help her get out of her relationship with Haizaki. In the end, it helped her! She's with Nijimura now and she looks a lot more happy now!"

"But I want to know why you're tearing your friends apart! You're hurting yourself so much, Hana-san! Next thing I knew, you're gonna push me away too!" The usually composed Umi now had a small tear trail running down her cheeks as she stared at Kohana through the screen.

Despite her friend's tears, Kohana just looked away from the screen. "I would only do that if it meant you'd be happier, Umi…"

"Cut that crap, Hana!" Throwing all her usual mannerisms out the window, Umi shot a heated glare at her older friend. "Even after all the shit that's happened between all of us, I can't just let you be alone! No matter what happens, I still believe that we're all friends…"

With a small smile, Kohana let out a sigh to release her tension. "I'm glad you can be so kind towards me even though I tore us all apart… Thank you, Umi…"

Umi just nodded her head slowly, wiping away the remaining tears in her eyes as she looked at the time. "I'm sorry for snapping at you before you go to bed… You're starting school tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yeah, tomorrow's my first day at Kaijo…" Kohana responded with a nod.

"Kaijo…? Wait, isn't that in Kanagawa? What about the commute?" Umi questioned curiously.

Kohana chuckled a bit as she moved to the side. "Haven't you noticed the different background?

Raising a curious brow, Umi looked at Kohana's background and her eyes widened. "Wait… That doesn't look like your room from the orphanage… Wait, did you get adopted?!"

Nodding her head, Kohana picked up her laptop to show Umi her new room. "Yeah, I actually wanted to keep my adoption a secret, so I didn't change my name on Facebook yet. I wanted to surprise you."

"You would do something like that…" Umi chuckled as Kohana set her laptop back down on her desk. "But what about the people back at the orphanage?"

A small frown curled on Kohana's face as she looked down at her hands. "Well, Madoka-san passed away a few months ago… As for the kids, they're in care of her daughter. She wanted to inherit the orphanage, so at least I know the kids will still be cared for."

Umi had a hand against her mouth. "…I'm so sorry to hear that happened to Madoka-san…"

Slowly, Kohana's hand made its way towards her pack before she stopped herself. "It's alright… Well, as for why I finally got adopted… In her will, Madoka-san wrote that she wanted me to have a family of my own, so this was arranged out of respect for her final wishes."

Umi hummed thoughtfully. "Judging from the space, I'm assuming this is that rich lady who kept coming back to the orphanage?"

Snickering, Kohana nodded. "She's not as bad as I thought, honestly… I thought Eri-san would be uptight considering she's the CEO of Zunon Boy, but she's actually very kind."

"Well, I'm happy for you." Umi then looked to the side for a moment before looking back at Kohana. "Oh shoot, I need to let you go now or you won't get any sleep! I'll talk to you another time, Hana!"

Kohana smiled and waved goodbye. "Alright. See you, Umi."

Once the screen closed, Kohana shut off her laptop and plugged it in to let it charge overnight. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door before turning to it. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a young woman with long ash blonde hair that cascaded down her back. The woman's lapis blue eyes met with her cerulean blue eyes before she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Kohana. "Hana, I have to leave early tomorrow. Nayuki will prepare your breakfast and lunch for you, but will you be able to make it to school on your own?"

Nodding her head, Kohana returned the embrace. "Yes, I'll be fine, Eri-san."

"Alright, it's time to go to bed now. Good night, Hana." After planting a small, affectionate kiss on the top of Kohana's head, Eri left the room.

Once she tucked herself into her bed, Kohana closed her eyes and put her hands together in prayer as she repeated the same words to herself over and over until she fell asleep.

"Everything will be fine… I'll be fine…"

* * *

"Now, introduce yourself!"

Kohana smiled as took a step forward. "Hello everyone, I'm Kohana Kaneshiro, but I would prefer if you called me 'Hana.'" Clutching her clipboard close to her chest, she bowed her head towards the group of boys in front of her. "From this day forward until I graduate, I'll be manager of Kaijo's basketball club. I hope we can all get along."

The coach, Takeuchi, took a step forward. "Alright, now back to drills. Kaneshiro, you look over the first years."

Nodding her head, Kohana brought a hand up to salute. "Yes sir!" Quickly, she ran over to the small group of first years. "Alright, let's start with some warm up then we'll move onto drills."

As practice went by, everything went well until one of the first years fell to the ground in the middle of a drill.

"Kasamatsu-kun!" Setting down everything she was holding, Kohana quickly ran to him and held her hand out. "Hey, can you stand?"

Without a reply, he just stood up on his own and walked away from her to continue his drill.

She was shocked, but nonetheless brushed it off with a small smile. "I guess that means he's fine…"

However, as practices went by, Kasamatsu would continue to fall in the middle of practice and not let her help him up. One day, she had enough and decided to approach him.

Waiting outside of the boy's change room, she waited until Kasamatsu walked out. "Hey," He stopped in his tracks. "Kasamatsu, you had a pretty nasty fall today, are you sure you're going to be okay?"

He didn't turn to face her and only responded to her question with just a quick nod before walking off.

Watching him walk away, Kohana sighed to herself as she leaned her back against the wall. "Does he dislike me or something?"

"Hana-san, it's not that he dislikes you, he just can't handle talking to girls without being a nervous wreck." Moriyama commented as he walked out of the changing room with his bag in tow. "Trust me, he's doing both of you a favor by not talking."

Kobori also nodded and he followed behind Moriyama. "Yeah, don't let it bother you too much, Hana-san."

"But I can't help it! You two aren't even in my class but you're both able to talk to me just fine!" Kohana whined as she walked alongside them. "Plus the fact that I'm supposed to be manager… How can I help him if he won't talk to me…?"

Moriyama hummed as he brought a hand up to his chin. "Well, I just know that he's okay with talking to a person as long as they're not a girl."

"'As long as they're not a girl'…" That was when an idea popped up in Kohana's head. Without warning, she quickly sprinted ahead of the two boys. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna go on ahead! I'll see you both at practice tomorrow! Oh, and thanks for the idea, Moriyama-kun!"

The two boys just waved at her until she was out of sight. Kobori looked over at Moriyama with a small frown on his face. "You don't think she's going to do something crazy, do you?"

Moriyama shrugged his shoulders as he continued to stare in the direction she ran off towards. "You're expecting Hana-san, the girl who challenged the basketball captain to a one-on-one in order to win her position as manager, to _not_ do something crazy?"

"…Let's just hope she doesn't hurt herself this time." Kobori let out a sigh as he continued to walk home with Moriyama.

The minute she arrived home, Kohana hurriedly kicked her shoes off and immediately dropped all her things near the door before running straight into the bathroom. Opening all the drawers in the vanity, she pulled out all the contents in order to find what she was looking for quicker. "Aw c'mon, I know there were in here somewhere! Maybe this drawer…?"

Hearing the ruckus going on, Eri left her workroom to peek into the bathroom. She watched with curiosity as Kohana dug through all the drawers. "So… Are you looking for something or are you wanting to create more of a job for Nayuki? I'll have you know she won't be very happy with the mess you've made of our bathroom…"

"Sorry, Eri-san, I promise I'll clean it up." Looking in her direction, Kohana quickly shut the drawer she was digging through and walked towards her adoptive mother. With a pair of scissors in hand, she held it out to Eri. "Also, I have a crazy favor to ask of you."

Taking the scissors in her hand, Eri let out a sigh as she watched Kohana walk back towards the bathroom mirror with a hair brush in hand as she brushed the tangles out of her long, chocolate brown hair. "Are you sure you want me to do this, Hana? It might be best if you have Nayuki do this for you… I might cut it too short…"

"That's fine." Kohana cut her off as she finished tying her hair into a low ponytail. Looking at Eri over her shoulder, she had a confident smile and certainty sparkling in her cerulean blue eyes. "Short is what I'm going for."

* * *

"Yikes, your calves are seriously swollen…" Kohana grimaced. "Well, at least this explains why you've been randomly falling in the middle of drills… But Kasamatsu-kun, you really need to tell us if you're in pain so you won't cause yourself any long term problems."

"…"

Realizing she wouldn't get a response, Kohana just let out a defeated sigh as she finished wrapping his legs. "Alright, that's all done… Okay, now I want you to lie down on the bed. Also, keep the pillow here for your legs stay elevated." Quietly, he did as she told. "Perfect. Now wait here while I get you an ice pack, alright?"

The nurse's office went silent as Kohana walked towards one of the counters lining the wall. After searching through the drawers, she managed to find an empty ice pack.

"…Um, K-Kaneshiro-san?"

Her eyes widened before she looked over her shoulder. Kasamatsu finally called out to her, but he wasn't looking at her. Understanding that he was probably doing so because it was what made him comfortable, she gave a small smile before returning her attention to breaking the ice cubes from the ice tray. "Yes, Kasamatsu-kun?"

Kasamatsu looked in Kohana's direction, his cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. "W-Well… I-It's about your hair…"

Despite his stuttering, it was still a start. "What about my hair?"

"Uh, well… W-Why did you cut?" He was curious. Despite being the only guy on the team in the same class as her, he never really did talk to her unlike all the other first year guys and that fact alone made him the most distant from her in the entire team.

"Oh, this?" Kohana brought her hand up to her now short hair before smiling.

" _Wait, you want to donate your hair?" Eri questioned as Kohana finished tying her hair._

 _Kohana nodded as she held the tip of her hair to examine the length. "I measured it earlier and it's longer than eight inches, so that means it's long enough to donate, isn't it?"_

 _Eri responded with a slow nod of her head. "Well, it is… But is there any reason for this all of a sudden?"_

 _Looking at the mirror, she eyed her long chocolate brown hair and nodded. "Well, I was considering to donate my hair for a while now… But recently, I got a good reason to cut it."_

"Well, Moriyama-kun told me that talking to girls made you uncomfortable… I thought that maybe if I looked more like a guy, it'd make it easier on you to talk to me." Well, that wasn't _entirely_ a lie… But he didn't need to know that.

His steel blue eyes widened as he got up from the bed. "W-Wait, you're telling me you cut off your hair just for that?"

"Not just for that, but I actually have been wanting to go short for a while now. Plus, doing this for you gave me a good reason to get it over with." Once she finished putting ice in the ice pack, she turned towards him and smiled. "In the end, I'm glad I did it because you and I are finally talking normally. And in case you didn't notice, you're not stuttering as much."

He opened his mouth to protest but quickly shook his head to say something else. "You're crazy…"

A small smile curled on Kohana's lips as she handed him the ice pack so he could hold it against his leg. "Yeah, well I thought you would've known that by now considering we're in the same class." Kohana then took a chair so she could sit near his bed. "Now that I've done all I can for you, we need to talk about what to do about your legs…"

Looking down at his bandage wrapped legs, Kasamatsu let out a sigh. "I really don't get what's going on… This never really happened to me before."

"Hmm… Maybe the training regime is putting too much burden on your muscles?" Kohana proposed before getting up from her chair to dig through her sports bag. "Hold on, I got something in here that might help…"

Curious, he watched her pull whatever she was talking about out of her bag. Once Kasamatsu had a full view of it, his face immediately twisted in disgust and shook his head. "No, I am _not_ wearing those."

Kohana frowned. "Oh come on. Look, I know it may feel weird at first, but trust me when I say that this'll help you in the long run. The compression will help lessen the burden on your muscles and support your legs."

A blush enveloped his cheeks as he looked away stubbornly. "Forget it."

"Could it be that you're embarrassed over how it's going to look on you?" Kohana asked with a mischievous smile.

She didn't think it was possible, but the blush on his face turned a deeper shade of red. "OF COURSE NOT!"

Laughter erupted from her as she just handed him the black knee socks. "I promise you that if anyone makes fun of you, I'll increase their training regime as punishment."

From that day forward, Kasamatsu slowly grew more and more comfortable around her. In the end, Kohana was secretly happy she decided to go through with her crazy decision to cut her hair.

* * *

With all the happiness in Kohana's life in the past year, it was only natural all of it would come crashing down eventually.

It was about a week before the end of her first year at Kaijo and she had agreed to meet with Sho for that weekend for a date, but things didn't go by well.

"Hana, wait!" Sho called out as he chased after her through the empty street.

Kohana stopped in her tracks and turned around only to slap him across the face once he got close to her. "I don't want to hear it! You've been cheating on me!"

Holding his stinging red cheek, he looked back into her eyes. "I wasn't cheating! She's just a friend, I swear!"

She almost couldn't believe he was pulling that excuse with her. "Oh, so you casually go to love hotels with girls when they're just friends?" Frustrated, she turned her back on him and prepared to walk away. "We've dated for almost two years now… I can't believe I trusted you… You're the worst!"

After she took a few steps, Sho removed his hand from his cheek and frowned. "I'm the worst? Take a look at yourself, Hana." Once she stopped in her tracks, he knew he had her right where he wanted her. "Despite being friends with Kuramochi, you accepted my offer to date… Don't think I didn't notice you two stop hanging out with each other after we started dating."

"Shut your mouth…" Kohana threatened as her nails began to dig into the palms of her hand.

"Little did you know that the same day I asked you out was the same day I rejected Kuramochi. Some friend you are, huh?" Despite the harsh glare she was giving him, he continued. "Besides, you're one to talk… You never loved me, Hana."

She couldn't believe he was trying to use that excuse on her. Kohana turned around to face him, placing one of her hands against her chest. "I did!"

"You didn't love me, you loved my eyes."

When he said that, she felt her entire body freeze up as he slowly walked up to her. Bending down, he brushed her hair away from her ear before whispering. "…Because they're the same color as Kuramochi's eyes…"

 _He knew…?_

Stepping away from her, he narrowed his dark red eyes at her and the image of Mizuki staring at her with that same hate-filled glare flashed through her mind. "I was just some replacement for her… You've basically been cheating on me for this entire relationship, so why are you so hateful to me for doing the same to you?"

"I-I…" Kohana was struck speechless because she couldn't deny anything he said. It was all true… She only dated Sho in order to forget about her feelings for Mizuki, but he was just so perfect because his eyes were the same as Mizuki… If she looked into his eyes, she could pretend it was Mizuki's eyes on her. She could pretend she was kissing Mizuki as long as she looked into his eyes… She could pretend it was Mizuki looking at her so lovingly… "S-Sho, I-"

Sho stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Karma's a bitch, isn't she?"

With those final words, he walked away and left her there. Just like that, the two year relationship they shared ended. Despite not truly being in love in that relationship, Kohana walked home alone with tears streaming down her face.

 _I wasn't in love with him, but why does this hurt?_

"Because even if the love was fake, it was nice to have someone to help me forget…" Kohana whispered to herself as she wiped away her tears.

 _But what did I do to deserve this pain?_

As that thought ran through her mind, images of her parents, Mizuki, and Setsuna flashed through her head.

Kohana let out a dry laugh as she shook her head. "That's right… Omma and Appa left me because I was a mistake, I ended up hurting Mizuki with my selfish attempts to forget about my feelings for her, and I hurt Setsuna on purpose…" Once she was back home and in the safety of her room, she brought a hand up to her chest. "This pain is my atonement…"

Slowly, she sunk to the floor while her back rested against the door. Before she realized it, the tears returned and began to stream down her cheeks.

 _But this pain isn't worth suffering through because it won't bring any of you back…_

* * *

Kohana's second year at Kaijo went by in a flash.

"Huh? This year was your last year at Kaijo?" Kasamatsu's eyes widened at the news. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Kohana just gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry, Kacchan… I didn't bring it up because I didn't want you to lose focus during practice."

He had a look that was a mixture of sadness and anger. Frustrated, he slammed his fist against the surface of the bench he sat on. "Dammit! If I knew this was your last year, I wouldn't have screwed up…" Kasamatsu brought his head down. "Kaneshiro, I'm so sorry that I lost our last game together."

She shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel sorry, Kacchan…"

"I can't help it!" He yelled as he looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I want you to feel proud of us for our last game together! But because of me… Because I messed up, you have nothing to be proud of!"

Kohana was a bit shocked at his outburst, but she just gave him a small smile as she sat next to him. Despite not experiencing her team losing before, she tried her best to try and cheer him up. "You're wrong, Kacchan… I'm already very proud of how far you've come since I met you during our first year. As for the results of that last game, I'm even more proud of you for becoming captain." Before he could say anything, she quickly placed a finger over his mouth. "And before you say you don't deserve the position, I'll just say that you earned it. Coach Takeuchi can agree with me on that. We both agreed that we wanted you to be captain."

He remained silent even as she pulled her finger away from his lips and got up. "…Hey, Kaneshiro."

"Hm?" Kohana cocked her head to the side curiously as she turned to look at him. "What's up- Oh?"

She was caught off guard when he suddenly placed his hands on her shoulders. "…Th-Thanks for everything in the past two years…"

After a couple of seconds spent blinking confusedly at his actions, Kohana smiled as she brought a hand up to place it on his arm. "Thank you, Kacchan… For becoming my friend and for being a great player." Once he removed his hands from her, she looked him in the eye. "So, you initiating the physical contact first… Does that mean you're finally comfortable around girls?"

A blush enveloped his cheeks as he looked to the side bashfully. "O-Of course not, idiot."

Kohana giggled at seeing his red face. "Well, there's another thing now… I'm proud of you for growing comfortable around me while I look like a girl."

"Well, you suit longer hair…" He commented as he bent down to pick up his bag.

When he said that, Kohana absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair. She had always kept her hair short during their first year, but when their second year together started, Kasamatsu surprisingly told her to let her hair grow out. Since it was near the end of their second year, her hair was now just barely past her shoulders and made her appear more feminine as opposed to the masculine look her short hair gave her. "But my question for you is that would you be comfortable around me if I grew my hair out to the length it was back when we first met?"

The two of them walked off the campus while he shot her a slight glare. "Are you saying you think I can't?"

She stifled a giggle. "Well, after seeing how you interacted with the girls in our class this year, I'm going to have to say yes."

Playfully, he bumped his shoulder into hers as they walked alongside each other.

That was one of her last memories of high school before graduation came. Like she was aiming for, Kohana managed to graduate high school within two years.

After returning home from the graduation ceremony, Kohana immediately went into her room. She stared at herself in the mirror of her vanity while running a hand through her shoulder length hair. "This is it…"

"Hana, are you sure about all this?"

Kohana look at Eri through the mirror before turning around to face her. The two of them stared at each other for a long time before the young girl nodded her head. "I'm sure. Sure, I got good grades, but I don't think I have the motivation to go through college. Plus that modeling gig I did for you and Nayuki was really fun and I enjoyed myself a lot."

Eri walked up behind Kohana and wrapped her arms around her. "You know I'm fine with you doing whatever makes you feel happy. No matter what path you choose, know that you are always my child and I will love you unconditionally."

"Thank you for your support, Eri-san." Letting out a deep breath, Kohana nodded to herself. "Could you get Nayuki-san? If she's free, I would like for her to cut my hair."

"Sure thing. Head on over to the bathroom when you're ready, okay?" After releasing Kohana from her grasp, Eri left the room.

Turning her attention back to the vanity mirror, Kohana stared at her face in the mirror before looking at the styrofoam head with a short black wig resting on it. With a small smile, Kohana took the wig in her hands. "Thanks for the past year, but I won't be needing you anymore."

"Hana! Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Kohana responded before placing the wig back on the wig head and running out of her room.

* * *

"…ey… ey…? Hey!"

Cerulean blue eyes opened before shifting towards the direction of the woman calling out to him from the driver seat of the car. "Yes, Nayuki-san?"

"I knew you weren't listening to me again…" The middle aged woman with raven black hair sighed as her finger tapped impatiently against the steering wheel. "Anyway, you'll be working with Ryota Kise today. Now look, I know you didn't want to work with him, but please just put up with it for today, alright?"

The young man frowned a bit. "I thought you told me you would try to avoid putting me in the same jobs as him…"

Nayuki rolled her eyes as she parked the car. "It's not my fault that Eri wanted the next magazine to feature two of our top male models… You know I can't exactly say no to her…"

"…More like you could say no, but she'll cry if you do." The young man said knowingly as he stepped out of the car to stretch his arms.

Her dark amber eyes narrowed in his direction. "You've definitely developed some sass… First you don't listen to me, then you go mixing my personal life and my job."

He sighed as he walked alongside her towards the building. "For the record, it's not that I wasn't listening to you, I just had other things on my mind."

Nayuki's brows knitted together in suspicion. "Hmm? …But I need to ask, are you feeling okay? The expression you had on your face had me a bit worried…"

She was met with silence as everything he thought about earlier flashed through his mind. "…"

"Kou," He turned to look at her. Her face was full of concern. "Please answer me honestly… Are you feeling okay? If not, I can ask Eri if you can take the day off instead."

A small smile curved on Kou's lips as he looked up at Nayuki with bright, cerulean blue eyes with the best smile he could give her. "Everything is fine… I'm fine."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

After my long writing hiatus, I finally found the motivation to finish this chapter! As for why I was gone for so long… School was taking up a lot of my time, I lacked the inspiration to write, and with this monster chapter needing to be edited, I had to take a break from writing for the sake of my sanity. I also went back to edit mistakes in the previous chapters, so that's also why this chapter took a long time to release.

Anyway, welcome to the third story in the Wasurenagusa series! This is Kise's story, Memories.

I apologize that this chapter was all backstory, but I felt that doing it this way would help avoid too many flashbacks during this story. Plus it seemed fitting to me that the first chapter of a story called "Memories" would have it's first chapter showing some of the character's significant memories. (But putting years of backstory into one chapter is not fun…)

As stated in the small note at the top, this chapter covered the backstory of Kohana, a character present in Devotion and Longing. Parts of me wonder if anyone reading this was able to figure out that Kou from Devotion and Hana from Longing were the same person. They were planned to be the same person from the drafting stages of Wasurenagusa, and I had put in little hints at this throughout the previous two stories.

I hope that those of you who're still sticking around to read this story enjoy having a long chapter after my long break. If you like the series, please show your support through favorites, follows, or leaving a review. I would appreciate it!

-Ari


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